Human
by The Cynical Prince
Summary: They talked of ninja as tools and killers. Of Jinchuriki as monsters and freaks. They were superhuman soldiers, capable of incredible and terrible things. But they were still human. Rin survived the catastrophic mission resulting in her becoming a Jinchuriki, and after she escaped the clutches of a mysterious megalomaniac, she had to find herself and the confidence to move forward.
1. Prologue

Author's Note: I'll try not to be long winded, but I'd like to welcome you to my new fic. I hope you enjoy a little bit more of a gritty take on Naruto where we try our best to avoid silly plot armor like Gai getting revived by Jesus-Naruto.

* * *

_They talked of ninja as tools, weapons, and killers. Of Jinchuriki as monsters, demons, and freaks. They were superhuman soldiers, capable of incredible and terrible things. But they were still human. And after Rin Nohara escaped the clutches of a mysterious megalomaniac, she had to come to terms with her own humanity in a world where killing was as commonplace as grocery shopping._

* * *

**_Human_**

**_Prologue_**

**_Rin_**

* * *

_Ba-bump! Ba-bump ba-bump ba-bump! Ba-bump ba-bump!_

Rin Nohara woke slowly. Her mind was foggy and her thoughts distant, but it was clear immediately what had called her to consciousness. She ached, but in no way she recalled ever aching before. And problematically, in that moment she recalled very little. It felt to her as if her chakra, the source of energy, life, and ninja arts, was trying to explode out of her. It was most prominent in her chest, in her erratic heartbeat, her quick pulse.

Seconds slipped by, and Rin was unsure how long she lay in her fog. After a time, she became aware that she was, in fact, laying. She tried to look down at her body, but found her head unable to move. Curiously, there was pressure across her forehead. She tried to move her head again, with no success. She was laying on something hard and cold. She was _strapped_ to something hard and cold. There was no world where this situation was good.

She needed a moment to think, to collect her thoughts. She had time, yes, but she could not focus. Why was she here? What had she been doing before she was here? Rin searched for any useful or relevant memories, but found nothing concrete, only muddled images, half remembered phrases, and people she could not name. What did she know?

She knew her name, she knew how tall she was – five feet, two inches, her age – fourteen, her favorite food – strawberries, and any any other number of useless facts about herself. Something was stopping her from remembering everything else. Everything that was not intrinsically linked to who she was was just… gone. Except… except… yes… she was a ninja. A highly trained soldier. She owed her allegiance to…

_Ba-bump! Ba-bump ba-bump ba-bump! Ba-bump ba-bump!_

Well, she didn't remember everything about her profession, but being a ninja, she surely could get out of a few leather straps. But how? It wasn't as if she really remembered anything about training as a ninja. She wanted to cry, but she knew if she did, she'd never get off of the damn table.

What did she know about being a ninja? She knew that her body was full of chakra, which was the source of… something. Chakra did something. She had known just moments ago, hadn't she? Was focusing on something what was stopping her from accessing her knowledge?

It was impossible to know for sure, but it was worth a shot. Rin turned her attention to her surroundings. It was a small room, lit by a single, dim lightbulb hanging precariously from the ceiling. There was one door, large, heavy, metal. It looked rusted, but that could have been the lighting.

And, oh!

Genjutsu!

Rin was probably under the effects of a genjutsu. One that was preventing her from thinking. She just had to temporarily disrupt the flow of her chakra through her body's circulatory system. It was simple, and she _knew_ how to do it.

She closed her eyes, and reached for her chakra. It was easy to touch, and to mold into the shapes and directions she needed it to move. That she remembered. But before she felt the familiar tug of energy that would allow her to increase her strength, command water, create fire, or dispel genjutsu, she felt the fluttering of her heart grow even faster. It refused to settle.

And then, quite suddenly, everything was white and her body was struck with pain.

Rin did not know if she screamed. She couldn't see, hear, or smell anything. There was only white hot agony. It went on forever and then forever again. Rin knew that she could never escape it. All she knew was crippling, consuming pain.

It burned in a way that nothing else had ever burned before. It was coming from within her, threatening to burst forth and consume the world. It was coming from the void around her, threatening to consume her entirely.

Eventually, mercifully, it faded into a dull ache. She was aware of her own trembling, her own erratic heartbeat, her own wheezing. Was it over? Had she died? Were her nerves damaged beyond feeling pain?

She must have spent several days just staring at the ceiling, mouth agape, feeling and thinking nothing. She could not control her shaking, her sweating, her heartbeat.

_Ba-bump! Ba-bump ba-bump ba-bump! Ba-bump ba-bump!_

A thought wormed its way into her mind. A part of herself returned. Crawled back into her conscious mind. She was a shinobi, a soldier.

She didn't feel like it. She felt like a terrified fourteen year old girl.

She needed to find something that would get her out of the hell she found herself in, but she did not remember being captured, or being sent on a mission. Was it possible she was in her village? Which one was it?

She closed her eyes and saw leaves on towering trees, a high wall, a tower with a red roof, and a mountain with stone faces. _Konoha_.

Was it possible she was being held in Konoha?

But that didn't make sense. She was one of their own, a ninja in their military structure.

She couldn't be in Konoha. So where was she?

The last thing she remembered before this was…

...Obito, crushed beneath a rock, dying and in pain. He was offering his eye to Kakashi, who had been blinded by an enemy. They were crying, holding hands, saying goodbye. And then Rin was performing field surgery…

_No!_

No.

That memory was unwelcome. And she knew, _knew_ that it was old. Months, she thought, maybe years. How long had she been prisoner in this chamber?

She couldn't remember. Why couldn't she remember? Panic swelled forth, and she fought back the wild thoughts of her own demise as best she could. But she knew she was going to die here. She was going to die if she sated here. She was going to die. She was going to die. Die. Die. Die die die.

_Think,_ she told herself. _Just think. Why are you here? What were you doing? What mission were you sent on?_

...She saw an office, the Hokage handing her a scroll. She was leaping through the trees, and then camping out with Kakashi. There was a kunai at her neck. She saw the coastline...

Rin let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. So there had been a mission. It certainly sounded right. She and Kakashi had been sent to the stretch of land in the southeast of the Land of Fire. Their orders were to… to…

The more she focused on it, the more it slipped away from her.

_Shit! _Rin cursed internally. Why had they been sent to the border? She supposed it would come to her eventually.

Something echoed to her left, where she could see the door. Her head would have snapped towards the sound of the noise, but she was still strapped to a table. Her neck protested at the reflex, and she felt the tendons strain in protest against the strap across her forehead.

Footsteps, coming toward the door.

This was it, she realized. This was the moment she would die. Whoever had captured her would kill her. Or violate her body in unspeakable ways before leaving her to die. She whimpered in fear.

The footsteps stopped outside the door, and Rin stopped breathing.

_Ba-bump! Ba-bump ba-bump ba-bump! Ba-bump ba-bump!_

Rin closed her eyes and tried to control her breathing. Maybe if this person thought she was asleep, she could buy herself more time.

The groaning of metal signaled the door's opening. Her body tensed involuntarily. The person was at her side in two steps and there was a hand on her neck. Whoever it was took her pulse.

A deep voice chuckled.

And then a hand struck her face. Hard.

Rin yelled in protest.

"Ah, good. You're awake," The voice said. It was a deep, voice, laced with cruelty and malicious intent.

Rin opened her eyes and glared at the man.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" She shouldn't have spoken, she knew, but she couldn't help it. She was terrified, and speaking out in defiance gave her even an imagined amount of control.

He laughed, and struck her again.

The sound of her scream was muffled by his hand over her mouth. "My name is of no importance to you, little girl. But you will serve me, and my purpose. For now, you will remain here, because your body needs time to… adjust." She could hear the sick, twisted smile in his voice, and it would have stopped her heart with fear if it wasn't beating so damn fast.

_Ba-bump! Ba-bump ba-bump ba-bump! Ba-bump ba-bump!_

His hand trailed down her neck, collarbone, and chest. Rin tried to squirm away from his touch, but she could not move. His hand stopped at her chest, above her breast. Right over her heart.

_Ba-bump! Ba-bump ba-bump ba-bump! Ba-bump ba-bump!_

She felt a spike of his chakra pierce her heart. A tremor of energy surged through her, prompting the liquid fire of her own chakra to consume her again. She threw her head back and screamed as she was lit aflame from within. Her world turned white with agony.

The last thing Rin heard was the sound of laughing.

* * *

_Author's Note_: Please drop a follow or favorite to know when this gets updated.


	2. Rin's Capture Arc - 1

_Author's Note_: The first arc begins in earnest now. Rin's prologue sets the stage for the single most important "what if" change in the entire story. Everything else stems from these first few chapters. I hope you enjoy the story as we shift into some combat oriented character building chapters.

* * *

**Human**

**Rin's Capture Arc**

**Chapter 1**

**Kakashi**

* * *

Kakashi Hatake was exhausted. Exhaustion was probably putting it mildly, he considered, but it was a decent enough descriptor of his current status. The fatigue he felt carried all the way through to his bones, but that did not mean he had the luxury of resting. His mission had become a disastrous nightmare, a repeat of the single worst day of his life, and it was more urgent that he continue now than ever.

The Third Ninja war was drawing to a close, ninja from nations all across the world were being recalled as hostilities wound down, and it was common to see them past the borders of the countries they had been aggressors in. Rin and Kakashi had been sent out as scouts, to ensure their eastern border was secure. A routine patrol for seasoned ninja. It should have been painfully simple and dull.

It should have been easy.

The mission had gone terribly wrong, of course, as was the long standing tradition of all missions assigned to squad seven. Manpower was short, so Rin and Kakashi had been trusted to handle the mission as a pair instead of a full squad of four. The first day had been by the book, they had swept a large sector of the border leading to the ocean, which was the closest border the Land of Fire shared with the Land of Water. They spent the day looking for any stragglers needing to return to their homeland.

Rin and Kakashi were ninja of Konohagakure no Sato, The Village Hidden in the Leaves, which was the central source of military power in the Land of Fire. And while it was _technically _true that the Daimyo of the Land of Fire was the chief authority in the country, the leader of the Hidden Leaf Village (Konoha as it was colloquially called), the Hokage, was the one truly in control of the fate of the nation.

In much the same fashion, the Land of Water had a Daimyo, but it was a nation controlled in all but name by Kirigakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Mist. Most countries had hidden villages, but only the five most powerful were granted leaders called Kage.

The Third Ninja War had involved them all.

The Land of Fire was central on the continent, and shared borders with many nations. However, it was the island nation of the Land of Water that his superiors were most concerned with. The war had raged for years, but with the massive victories won by the Leaf Village in recent months, the fighting was nearly done. Other nations had bowed out of the hostilities, and peacetime treaties, ceasefires, and armistices were being drafted. The Mist Village was the last hold out of hostile nations.

And it had been a mission to seek out any potential outposts or hidden bases that the Mist ninja may choose to keep up and running. Kakashi should have returned home with Rin unscathed and triumphant, but that was not the case.

Rin had not come back from her predetermined scouting route at the end of the second day. And Kakashi had been searching for her trail ever since. That had been three days ago. When he could turn up no sign of Rin, Kakashi employed the ninja art of summoning to help find her.

Summoning was a rare art, where a ninja could summon chakra touched animals to help them. Chakra touched animals could mould chakra, same as humans. They could learn speech, same as humans. And they had their own societies, same as humans.

Kakashi had been given the honor of signing a contract, in blood, to summon Ninken – Ninja Dogs. It was dead useful in tracking situations. The leader of the pack, Pakkun, and the rest of the dogs Kakashi could summon, had sniffed out Rin's trail in no time at all.

Over the course of their pursuit of Rin's captors, Kakashi pieced together that no fewer than eight enemy combatants had been involved. He didn't like his odds against eight enemy ninja. But he sure as hell wasn't going to abandon Rin.

Their trail ended at the end of the tree line. There were several massive boulders between the trees and the ocean. Kakashi could see the almost imperceptible cave entrance before him. It was well hidden. He likely would have overlooked it if he had not been looking for it. But it did confirm that there was, in fact, a hidden enemy outpost.

Mission parameters stated that he was to send word back to Konoha and wait for reinforcements. That was not an option. Rin was in danger now. And so he would go in to the enemy base alone. But he did need to get word back to Konoha.

He turned to Pakkun. "I need you to go back to the village. Whichever of you can run the farthest the fastest. Get word to the mission desk, the Hokage, the Jonin Commander, anyone. Rin has been captured and has been taken to the edge of the Land of Fire. At least eight hostiles. I am infiltrating to gather intelligence. Will only engage if necessary, primary objective is to exfiltrate Rin."

Pakkun bobbed his head, and turned to leave.

"One more thing," Kakashi said. "Minato-sensei can get to us the fastest."

"I'll try to find him," Pakkun said. And then the dogs were dashing through the trees. It was now up to him, exhausted though he was, to rescue his teammate.

Kakashi turned his attention back to the cave mouth. There were no visible signs that anyone had noticed his use of jutsu. But perhaps there were signs not visible to the naked eye. Kakashi lifted his hand to the headband that adorned his forehead and marked him as a ninja of the Leaf Village.

Kakashi wore his headband sideways, so that it covered his left eye. He lifted it now, and uncovered his greatest ninja tool, a Sharingan eye that had been a final gift from a dying friend. It gave him the ability to see chakra, and break through any genjutsu. There was more to the eye than that, much more, but in this moment, that was its purpose.

There was nothing. No guards on the outside. They were gambling on nobody finding the place at all. Kakashi wagered there would be lookouts posted just within the entrance that would have to be dispatched with haste.

He covered the eye once again. Best not to waste precious chakra keeping the Sharingan in use, especially because he was already sleep deprived and low on energy.

Steeling himself, Kakashi checked his surroundings for any other hostile ninja before heading inside.

It was quiet, eerily so, and Kakashi found no traps or lookouts at the entrance as he suspected. In fact, there was nothing to suggest this was an enemy hideout at all. Not until the cave opened up and split down two paths was there anything unnatural at all.

Standing before the forks were two ninja, wearing the headbands of Kirigakure. All of his suspicions were confirmed, hostile ninja were still in the area, this was their hideout after all, and they had taken his teammate hostage.

At a glance, Kakashi could see that the guards were bored, and barely on alert. Clearly they did not think anyone was coming for Rin. Did they assume she had been a lone scout? Such assumptions got people killed on the battlefield, and it would cost these guards their lives.

From his place in the shadows of the cavern, Kakashi drew his tanto and surged forward. Sped up by chakra and years of training to kill with brutal efficiency.

It was over in seconds. The first guard fell to the ground with only the sound of his blood dripping onto the rocks, and in the moment the second guard noticed his comrade's death, he, too, was cut down where he stood.

He wiped the blood from his kills on the second man's clothes, and returned his tanto to its sheath. After looking down the two tunnels to be sure nobody had been alerted, he raised his hands and formed a quick series of hand signs. He felt his chakra rise up from within him once again, and he pushed it to the ground. Seconds later the bodies of the two fallen ninja had been pulled into the earth.

Not wanting to wait any longer than necessary, Kakashi set off down the left tunnel in search of his teammate.

Kakashi found himself at a dead end almost immediately, so he backtracked and headed down the second tunnel, which also dead ended. Kakashi frowned, was it a genjutsu? He lifted the headband from his left eye once more.

Months ago, when his life had been much simpler, Kakashi had been part of a three man squad. Rin, of course, had been a teammate, but so had a boy named Obito Uchiha. During the battle of Kannabi Bridge, which was the greatest victory scored by the Leaf Village during the Third Ninja War, Obito had died and Kakashi had lost an eye. And a friend.

As a parting gift, Obito had given Kakashi his eye, and the eyes of an Uchiha were powerful things, as the Uchiha eyes possessed the Sharingan.

The walls in front of him were solid stone, which meant that it wasn't a genjutsu, or that the first path had been the one blocked by illusion. Kakashi cursed internally and returned to the first tunnel, and there he saw the illusion. Designed to look like a jagged, but otherwise solid, wall. The illusion gave way at the faintest push of Kakashi's chakra.

Kakashi found himself in a narrow corridor, no doubt carved by earth element ninjutsu. Doors lined the walls, and Kakashi set about checking each room in search of his comrade. A storage room, an empty kitchen, three rooms outfitted as sleeping quarters, and no sign of Rin.

The corridor turned up ahead, and Kakashi pushed up against the right hand wall, creeping forward as slowly as his feet would take him, and staying hidden within the shadows.

Around the corner, there was another, even longer hall, and at the far end, Kakashi observed that there were two more passageways. This compound was far larger than Kakashi had hoped. If a small team of enemy ninja had taken Rin captive, then the amount of hostiles that could be housed here was well over fifty.

Kakashi was good, but he doubted he could kill fifty enemy ninja by himself while in unfamiliar territory behind enemy lines. The only choice was stealth.

He checked the next five doors he came across. They were empty rooms that could be used for storage. Either the supplies had run out or they had been moved, it didn't matter.

He came to the end of the hall. _Right or left?_

Knowing that hesitation was suicide and also the death of Rin, he chose left.

Four feet before him, a door opened and Kakashi flattened himself against the wall, and used a simple genjutsu to encourage nobody to notice him.

Three men exited the room. Two in standard mist village mission gear, and a third man with a strange mask.

"You have your orders," the masked man said. "Notify me when the prisoner wakes, and continue to monitor for changes."

They walked past Kakashi, who was still as the grave. He hadn't breathed since the door opened.

And then the masked man stopped and glanced behind him, at Kakashi, and then down the hall. Kakashi had to remember to keep his breathing even. Slow, quiet, deep. It didn't work nearly as well as he wanted, so Kakashi settled for holding his breath.

"Something wrong, sir?" One of the ninja asked the masked man.

The masked man said nothing for several tense moments, observing the seemingly empty hall behind him. Eventually, he said, "It's nothing."

And then they were gone.

After a moment, Kakashi dared to breathe, and then he dropped his genjutsu and wrenched open the door the three mist ninja had just used. His hands were trembling from nerves and tiredness.

There was a single small light hanging from the ceiling of this room, swaying ever so slightly and casting its dim light almost as far as the walls. In the center of the room was Rin, strapped to a table and unmoving, wearing what was left of her mission gear. She looked terrible. Hell, she looked dead.

He rushed to her, gently pressing a hand to her neck and feeling for a pulse. She was alive! It took him only seconds to free her from her bindings, and pull her into an upright position. Kakashi gave her a once over, holding her up with one arm.

"Rin," Kakashi whispered, patting her cheek to wake her. "Rin, wake up."

Her eyes were open, but unseeing, and her mouth was agape. Kakashi put a finger to her forehead and pulsed his chakra once to dispel genjutsu, but nothing happened.

Kakashi cursed under his breath. Not a genjutsu, then. Rin had been tortured into semi-consciousness. Rage boiled up from the pit of his stomach, and he took several deep breaths to calm himself. He needed to keep as clear a head as possible if he was going to get her out of this alive.

He pulled her forward to the edge of the table. He could assess more later, now was the time to get her out of this hellhole. He'd just carry her out of the base, and get her as far away as possible. Then he would deal with her trance-like state.

Kakashi wedged himself into a position to hoist her onto his back and leaned against the edge of the surgical table while he dug into his pockets for a bit of wire or string. Anything to keep Rin secure while he made a mad dash to the exit.

Rin lulled forward, but grunted groggily. Her weight shifted as she regained consciousness. Rin blinked once, then twice, she smiled when she saw him.

"Ka...shi…" Rin slurred.

And then her eyes snapped open, her expression flashing instantly to one of terror.

"You can't be here!" Rin almost yelled.

"Shh!" Kakashi said, head snapping to the door even as he spun to face her. He put a finger to her lips. Nobody could know he was here, that Rin was freed from her detainment, that they were escaping.

"You have to go. They did something—it's a trap." Rin said desperately, pushing against his grip and trying to back away from the door.

"I figured that," Kakashi said, maintaining his grip. "We gotta go, trap or not. Come on." Rin was surprisingly weak, considering it had only been a few days since he'd seen her. Whatever they'd done had drained most of her strength. He won their tug of war easily, and Rin reluctantly followed behind him.

"Kakashi, please listen. I can't go with you. They did something to me," Rin protested.

"Follow close behind me, and stay quiet," Kakashi said, ignoring her. "We're only going to get one shot at this and I don't know how many more mist ninja are in this base."

Rin looked conflicted, but nodded once solemnly.

Kakashi cracked the door open, glanced left, then right. The hallway was empty. He took one deep breath and dashed out into the hall, moving full pelt down the hall, taking care to muffle the sound of both his and Rin's footsteps with his chakra.

They made it to the first turn, Kakashi hugged the corner and Rin followed behind him. The second turn, and there was a mist ninja walking down the hall with his back to them. He didn't hear them coming.

The tanto slid from its sheath on Kakashi's back, and Kakashi impaled the man from behind, just as he was turning to face them. He gurgled quietly, and Kakashi clamped a hand over his mouth as he lowered the mist ninja to the ground. They ran past the dying man without so much as a second thought.

Back at the fork in the cave entrance, Kakashi led them down the long tunnel and outside, the light was blinding and the air was clean and fresh. He wanted to whoop for joy, to scream from the rooftops that they were free. If they could make the tree line before pursuit began, they'd be safe. Then he could carry Rin the rest of the way home.

A sound from behind him crushed his fantasy of an easy escape.

His world became a tangle of limbs and fists as his eyes adjusted to the light of the outside world. He went down to his knees after a particularly painful strike to the back of his head. A mist ninja had him in a vice grip, and one of Kakashi's arms was pinned uncomfortably behind his back.

Kakashi's tanto fell to the dirt. He was pinned and disarmed. This was bad. Very, very bad.

A fist slammed into the side of his head and Kakashi saw stars. Kakashi would have staggered from his half kneeling position, but he lacked the freedom to move away from the Mist ninja's grip.

"Rin! Keep going! I'll catch up with you." It wasn't a request, it was an order. But it didn't come out very forcefully. Two blows to the head left Kakashi dazed. He probably had a concussion, but that could wait, he figured.

Rin hesitated, but did not move forward to fight. Eventually, she ran into the tree line and out of sight, leaving Kakashi to deal with the mist ninja.

Kakashi gathered his chakra and used to to propel himself both up and forward.

The imbalance of weight sent Kakashi and his assailant tumbling to the ground and Kakashi rolled left, breaking the grip of the mist ninja who had grappled him.

The ninja rolled to a crouch at the same time, and grabbed Kakashi's tanto.

Kakashi drew a kunai from the pouch on his leg, spinning around his finger and flipping it into his palm. He flexed his grip experimentally, and the fight resumed. They rushed together, steel met steel. There was a metallic clang, sparks flew, and then they were past each other. Kakashi whirled around, made a hand seal, and a mirror image of Kakashi phased into existence.

The clone jutsu was a simple enough technique that existed somewhere between ninjutsu and genjutsu. It made a mirror image of the ninja who created it, but was neither solid nor threatening. It was just a trick to be used to gain an advantage.

Much like Kakashi planned to do now.

They ran towards each other again, Kakashi made another hand seal, and then another.

There was another shimmering of the clone jutsu, and the smallest poof of smoke, one you'd have to really be looking for in order to see.

When they were about to meet in melee, the mist ninja leapt and spun, reaching out with foot and tanto, to hit both copies of Kakashi at the same time. A valiant attempt to see through the trick.

But the mist ninja did not see through enough. Tanto and foot passed harmlessly through both Kakashi's as they faded from existence, and the mist ninja, who had been expecting solid contact, landed awkwardly.

It was all the opening the real Kakashi needed.

Kakashi burst from a nearby tree, where he had moved by use of the substitution jutsu, and cut the mist ninja's throat with his kunai.

As the man fell, Kakashi grabbed his tanto, returned the kunai to it's holster, and then leapt to the trees after Rin. No doubt the pursuit would begin immediately.

* * *

Author's Note: I'd like to take this time to request some feedback and support. But only if you really want to give it. We're going to have different POV characters pretty much every chapter, so stick around for your favorites. Thanks in advance for any follows, favorites, or reviews.

Cheers!


	3. Rin's Capture Arc - 2

_Author's Note_: First of all, thank you for supporting the story so far. The kind words in the reviews really have me motivated to drop another chapter. And since I have the entire first arc written and in the editing stage, that is very possible. So, here's the second chapter of our first arc in the story. We're focusing on the frantic and fast paced action of an escape and pursuit. Once again we're in Kakashi's POV, but expect that to change in the next chapter, because Rin will be taking the spotlight. And from there, we'll include Kushina, Minato, and other characters as things unfold. I'm not sure I'll ever write a third person omniscient chapter, as I prefer the limited scope of a single POV per chapter. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Human**

**Rin's Capture Arc **

**Chapter 2**

**Kakashi**

* * *

_Breathe_, he told himself. _Just breathe, that's the key._

Mist ninja had pursued them from the cave mouth at once, and Kakashi had discovered that Rin had not taken to the trees. He ran beside her slow, staggering gait.

"What are you doing?" Kakashi asked. "We are being pursued by a platoon of enemy ninja and you're running on the ground. Without chakra. We are ninja of the Leaf, we have an advantage in the trees."

Rin glared at him. "I told you," she panted out, "I can't do anything. They did something to me. I can't use my chakra."

"Can't use your- why didn't you say something?" Kakashi asked.

"I tried! You wouldn't listen." Rin stumbled and nearly ran headlong into a tree.

Kakashi pivoted and steadied her. "You're going to be okay. Keep running, I'll buy us time."

He turned and headed back towards their pursuers, slapping explosive notes on tree trunks as he went.

With ten remote chakra-detonated bombs in place, Kakashi changed direction and leapt for the trees.

Less than a minute later, Kakashi saw two Mist ninja break from the tree line. He pulsed his chakra, turned, and ran back towards Rin.

The explosion shook the trees, birds shot into the sky.

There was precious little time. Kakashi didn't dare stop to see if their pursuers were dead. He ran until his lungs burned and his legs felt like they would give out.

Three days. Three days with no rest. Kakashi was spent. He stopped running, and leaned against a tree, drinking in deep, gasping breaths.

Five minutes rest he could spare.

Except… there were more pursuers. Kakashi heard them before he saw them, and slipped into the shadows that the tree branches provided him.

He dug a hand into a provisions pouch, and dug out a small pill. It was a food pill, designed to stimulate the body into producing more chakra. Use in situations like this almost always resulted in chakra exhaustion and hospital visits, but Kakashi needed more energy if he was going to fight.

He swallowed the pill, and shot off after Rin.

As his body produced more energy, his speed increased and he caught up to Rin in a matter of moments.

She looked dead on her feet, face red and skin clammy. She was gasping for a breath that would jot fill her lungs, and she was clutching at a stitch in her side.

"They're still in pursuit," Kakashi said.

Rin didn't answer, choosing instead to focus on breathing and keeping her feet moving.

He kept pace with her and pulled a ration bar from a pocket, then he unhooked his canteen from his belt loop.

"Stop. Catch your breath. Eat and drink. I'll slow them with a genjutsu. It will buy you maybe ten minutes to rest."

Rin took two more feeble steps, and then fell to her knees, and wretched. Bile spattered the forest floor. Kakashi placed the food and drink at her side.

He moved fifteen paces away, and began weaving the hand seals for his illusion. A simple visual distortion that would make it appear that their trail went off in a different direction. The wider the area of effect, the more chakra it would cost him, but the longer it would buy them.

He weighed his options for the briefest moment before pumping as much chakra as he could into the genjutsu.

He expanded the range until he was sweating from the exertion. His strength had never been in his chakra capacity, and the borrowed energy from the food pill was faster to flicker out.

He fell back, panting. He had two more pills. If he took them both he would end up in a coma, but if this kept up he likely would have no choice. He hoped Pakkun was making record time back to the village. If Pakkun had been held up... Kakashi didn't want to think about it.

His eyes were so heavy...

He fought against unconsciousness as his body screamed that it needed rest. Instead, he popped another food pill into his mouth and swallowed it down.

Chakra flared within him once again. He wondered if Rin should have one, but reasoned that in her current state of mind, it was not a good idea.

"Can you keep walking?" Kakashi asked Rin.

"Yeah," She said. She sounded so small. So defeated

"Let's get a move on," Kakashi said.

He wanted to sit, to sleep, to do anything but run.

They had to keep going, Kakashi told himself. Rest was a death sentence. It became a mantra in his mind. _Keep running. Keep running. Keep running._

If the ninja from The Village Hidden in the Mist caught up to them, then they were done for. He had used far too much chakra to risk pitched battle while operating on food pills. Flight was their only option, and even then there was the very real possibility of them being overcome before they were safely in Konoha.

Their pace was almost civilian.

Deep down, Kakashi knew the Mist ninja would catch them, and he would have to fight soon. He was ready to die to protect Rin, who was in no position to fight right now. If he was being honest with himself, neither was he. Their mission was nothing short of a disaster, even if they had discovered an enemy outpost.

They kept up their slow pace for fifteen minutes.

For thirty minutes.

An hour.

Two.

He heard the whistling of the air before he sensed danger, and barely managed to get out of the way of a barrage of shuriken.

"Hurry!" Kakashi ordered. He pivoted around, lifting the headband from over his left eye as he did so. Using the Sharingan to scan behind them quickly. He could see the chakra of their pursuers closing fast. 'Dammit, they're going to catch us. We aren't able to move fast enough like this. One last fight, then. "Rin! They're going to catch us! You keep going and I'll buy you as much time as I can. Leaf ninja should find you soon. I sent Pakkun to find Minato-sensei. He'll get you home."

Rin slid to a halt, defiantly facing Kakashi. "I already told you," she said, gasping for breath. "I can't go back to the village. They did something to me. I'll hurt someone."

Kakashi grimaced. "No. You won't. No matter what, you won't. I believe in your strength."

"You aren't listening!" Rin shouted.

"I heard you," Kakashi said, sparing her a brief glance. "But I know you, Rin. You're kind and gentle, and most importantly you're loyal to the Leaf Village. You won't hurt them."

Rin shook her head, blinking back tears. "What if I do? We can't take that risk, Kakashi. You have to kill me or give me back, and you have to do it now!"

"Never!" He declared.

Before Kakashi or Rin had time to argue any further, one of the Mist ninja was upon them. Kakashi slid his tanto from its sheath. With blinding speed, Kakashi parried the kunai that cascaded from above them. When the falling projectiles ceased, Kakashi turned to Rin once more. "We don't have time to fight about this, Rin. I promised Obito that I would protect you. And what's more than that, I couldn't bear it if you were hurt."

"Kakashi," Rin whispered, a sad smile ghosting across her features. He thought that maybe, just maybe, she looked determined.

"If you're so worried that you'll hurt someone, tell Minato-sensei before you reach the walls of the village." Kakashi turned away from her now, and was ready to face the Mist ninja. "Rin, you have to go now. I promise that I will catch up to you."

He heard her retreating footsteps, and let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Things had definitely not gone according to plan, and Kakashi could not help but feel that today was much like the disastrous battle near the Kannabi Bridge. The same battle that had claimed the life if their teammate, Obito. The same battle that was considered the Leaf Village's greatest military victory during the last war. However, he was determined not to make the same mistake he had made during that mission.

'Those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash!' Obito had said.

Nobody would die today.

Four pursuing shinobi were upon him now, and Kakashi watched them each in turn as they surrounded him. This fight had to end quickly, for both his sake and Rin's.

"Kill him quick. Then we go after the girl." One of the Mist shinobi said.

So that's their leader, Kakashi thought. I'll make sure he doesn't survive long enough to reorganize the pursuit.

Two of the Mist ninja closed with Kakashi, each wielding a katana. Three strokes and three parries later, Kakashi was retreating slightly to reassess the battle. They were skilled with kenjutsu, that much was very clear, but Kakashi had the advantage of the Sharingan. The combatants rushed forward again, and the steel of katanas flashed in the afternoon sun.

Kakashi ducked and blocked each of their cuts with his tanto. He pulled a kunai into his offhand. An extra blade for defending himself, or for attacking if he had the chance.

_If this drags on, they'll overpower me. I'm not even close to one-hundred percent._

Kakashi's thoughts were cut short by another attack, this time from all four of the Mist shinobi.

Four blades impaled the silver haired Jōnin before he could react. Kakashi slumped to the ground weakly, broken and bleeding. A chuckle of amusement passed between the Mist ninja. "How pathetic," the leader sneered.

"Pathetic, am I?" Kakashi asked from directly behind the leader of the Mist ninja. "If I'm pathetic, you must be something much worse than that." With that, Kakashi drove his kunai into the leader's heart. The Mist ninja slumped to the ground, blood pooling around him. _That's the leader down. If I can disengage quickly, Rin and I might have a chance to gain enough distance to shake their pursuit._

"What!?" One of the other attackers exclaimed.

"How!?" Demanded another.

Kakashi smiled at them underneath his mask. "I used the substitution technique. It's a ninja's bread and butter in a fight where he is outnumbered." He indicated the log that had been impaled in his stead. "I'm just surprised you fell for my trick so easily. Jōnin level ninja are supposed to be the shinobi elite. But you aren't at that level, are you?"

"We'll show you!" the Mist ninja who had refrained from speaking before roared. Kakashi's attacker raised his katana and darted forward. They exchanged a flurry of blows, Kakashi using the advantage the Sharingan gave him to block his strikes before they were fully executed. His preemptive counter attacks only served to make the Mist ninja more angry. Kakashi's blocks stayed true even as the attacks became more erratic and less disciplined. Kakashi slipped inside his enemy's guard.

The Mist ninja backed away after Kakashi landed a grazing blow, and the two circled each other before leaping forward once more. Kakashi user scored a killing blow against the Mist ninja, successfully getting within his guard after a particularly wild strike. The second dispatched Mist shinobi slumped to the ground like the first, just as lifeless as his commander. _That leaves two._

Kakashi turned to the remaining two ninja. There will be more coming to back them up soon._ I have to end this quickly, or disengage them entirely._

Kakashi didn't have time to deliberate, however. The Mist ninja, sensing that closing with Kakashi in melee combat was likely to prove futile, began forming hand seals for a ninjutsu attack. Glancing between the two, Kakashi realized that they were going to use different techniques. _Clever. I can't copy both attacks at the same time. I'll have to come up with something else._

"Water Style!" Both Mist shinobi declared.

"Gunshot!"

"Tearing Torrent."

The water jutsu projectiles fired towards him closed quickly. Kakashi grimaced. Their jutsu were closing fast, and at this short range he'd be unable to dodge them without using ninjutsu of his own. Which was doable, but he was already so exhausted that using a technique was likely suicidal at this point.

With a speed far greater than his adversaries, Kakashi's hands blurred for a moment, as he focused his chakra for a jutsu of his own. "Earth Style: Hiding Like a Mole Technique." Kakashi slipped beneath the dirt road just before the onslaught from the Mist ninja reached him.

_That was too_ close.

Water rushed over the path, flooding the area, impacting trees, splintering wood, and knocking several large boulders aside. The flooded area drained slowly, and the rampant destruction caused by the onslaught of water based projectiles became apparent.

"He's gone," one of the Mist shinobi declared.

"We killed him?" the other asked.

"I don't think so," the first replied. "But it looks like we've eliminated him for now."

A hand shot up from beneath the two Mist ninja, grabbing one of them by the ankle. They both let out less than masculine shouts of surprise at the sight of a disembodied arm rising from the earth. "Eliminate me?" Kakashi mocked as he rose from the ground, and pulled the Mist ninja under the earth in one movement. "Hardly. You were firing those attacks like blind and deaf Genin."

With a shout of anger, the still standing Mist shinobi swung his katana wildly at Kakashi, who leapt away from the attack. Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the Mist ninja. "I think it's time we end this." He made a set of hand seals and clapped his left hand on his right forearm. "Chidori!"

A visible wave of chakra filled the newly created clearing. Bolts of electricity shot from the swirling energy gathering in Kakashi's hand, growing more frequent and powerful by the second. The Mist ninja backed away, eyes wide with fear, looking for an escape. Sensing his enemy's desire to flee, Kakashi chuckled darkly. "There's no place for you to run. This ends now!"

Kakashi ran forward, right hand cocked back in preparation to strike. It's an all or nothing strike. If I don't end this fight now, I'm done for. I won't have enough chakra for another attack.

From his right there was movement, and then Kakashi watched in horror as Rin bounded into his line of attack, successfully placing herself between Kakashi and the Mist ninja. She had her eyes closed and her arms spread wide, as if she were welcoming death. Kakashi was moving too fast, he was too close.

"Rin!"

_No. No! No! No! No!_

Kakashi dispersed the chakra he'd gathered for his finishing blow and twisted his upper body as fast as he could. The result was that his still dissipating Chidori grazed her right arm and his back slammed into her torso, sending them both tumbling to the ground in a painful heap of flailing limbs and dust.

He was completely drained, but the adrenaline from the battle kept him awake. He glowered at Rin.

If looks could kill...

"Jumping in front of me like that and attempting to use my attack to kill yourself? I can't believe you! What the hell were you thinking?" Kakashi demanded as he regained his footing, spinning around and ready to defend against an oncoming attack. The Mist ninja, however, had taken their chance at Rin's interference and fled. Kakashi relaxed slightly and took in Rin's bedraggled appearance. His Chidori had done significant damage to her arm, despite the grazing blow, and it hung loosely at her side, dripping blood onto the dirt.

Kakashi sheathed his tanto, holstered his kunai, covered his Sharingan, and tried to control his shivering. It was exhaustion from this mission, it was anger at Rin, it was fear that they would die, regret that he'd nearly killed her.

"I can't go back to the village as I am now." Her eyes were full of unshed tears.

Kakashi glared at her, angry and confused and hurt all at once. "So you would use me to end your own life, without any thought as to how that would make me feel? Why are you so ready to give up? You know as well as I do that Sensei will be able to help you. Hell, Rin, I told you as much."

She lowered her head. "It doesn't matter. He can't undo what was done to me. I'm a monster now. The masked man said so himself. And only a monster could endure so much pain."

Pain? What pain? What exactly had they done to her?

Kakashi's anger blunted in an instant. He took three shaky steps toward her, so that they were inches apart, and took her still good hand in his. He traced a gentle circle over the back of her hand with his thumb.

"No, you're not. No matter what has happened, you are no monster. Minato-sensei can, and will, help you. All we have to do is evade our pursuers for a little while longer. Once we cross into frequently patrolled territory, their continued pursuit would guarantee their deaths. Rin, I need you to do this with me. Please. Let's find a solution that isn't your death."

She raised her head, and for a long time she said nothing, staring at him with teary eyes and a pained expression. Eventually, she spoke. "If I go with you, you have to promise me that I won't go within ten miles of the village until Minato-sensei finds out why I feel like my whole body is on fire when I use chakra."

Kakashi nodded, relieved that she was at least willing to try. "Of course. I can promise you that. Now let's get a move on. There's a lot of ground to cover and I don't doubt that those Mist ninja will be back for us once they regroup with their allies." Rin nodded, and gave him a thumbs up, but the accompanying smile did not reach her eyes. Kakashi was unsure if anything he could say would comfort her at this point. That was something Obito had always been better at than him, and he wished dearly that their teammate was still with them now.

But Obito could never be with them again. A sorrow they both had to bear. In his stead, Kakashi vowed to keep Rin safe. And now she was in more need than ever before. Truthfully, Kakashi was terrified that he'd fail, especially considering how exhausted he already was.

Together they set off once again towards Konoha, staggering along as fast as they could. It wasn't an impressive look. Kakashi was exhausted and Rin was both injured and mentally drained. It would have to do, of course. Any faster and they'd both inevitably collapse and wind up dead.

They kept it up as long as they could.

Which was longer than he thought.

They had been on the run together for half a day. It was pitch dark, and Kakashi kept crashing through thorny bushes. He could barely keep his eyes open.

"We need to stop," Kakashi said, slowing his pace and coming to a stop against a tree.

Rin shook her head and stepped past him. "No."

Kakashi grunted and caught her good hand. "Both of us are exhausted. Beyond exhausted.. If we push ourselves any more we could end up past saving. I've exhausted my chakra on two food pills today. Any more jutsu from me and I'm gambling with my life."

"And if we stop those ninja from the Mist village might catch us. We're in no condition to fight them." Rin's voice cracked, thick with emotion. She was right. They weren't going to elude them forever. He was spent, she was… well Kakashi didn't know what was wrong with Rin.

It was probably worse than exhausted.

"I told you earlier that Pakkun is heading back to the village. Sensei doesn't need travel time. Once he knows we're in trouble, we'll be safe.

"When was that?" Asked Rin.

"Maybe six, seven hours ago," Kakashi said. "I infiltrated the base before midday, and we have been on the run since. But I spent days tracking you, so we are at least a full day from Konoha."

"We have to survive out here for another eighteen hours?" Rin said. "We're going to die!"

Kakashi shrugged. "We may encounter those Mist ninja again, but I don't think we will die. For now, we should find a place to hide - and to rest."

Rin spun in a circle, examining their immediate surroundings in the darkness. "Where? There isn't anywhere to hide here."

"No," Kakashi agreed. "We'll have to keep looking. But that should be the objective. If we can find a defensible spot, we may be able to hold for a few hours of rest."

"Let's go, then," Rin said gravely.

The farther they went in search of shelter, the harder Kakashi found it to stay upright and moving. His eyes were so heavy. It would be so easy to just drift off to sleep. . .

He was on his knees, the ground looked so comfortable.

Kakashi knew he was down for the count. He tried to get to his feet, but it was no good. Instead, he settled for calling out to his teammate before unconsciousness took him

_Rin..._

* * *

Author's Note: If you enjoyed, do me a solid, drop a review, hit favorite/follow, and stay tuned for chapter three. I'd love to break twenty reviews, favorites, and follows. That would be incredible! Also, let me know how you feel about the fight sequences, as they are the things I've had the most trouble with so far. I plan to include several more in the next chapters, so I can really hammer home the necessary practice.


	4. Rin's Capture Arc - 3

Author's Note: I'm excited to keep these updates coming. So far, I am in love with this premise, and having the first arc written and tons more planned out is keeping me focused on moving forward. In the last I found myself getting lost and rambling on about nothing in particular, or daing with writers block over a specific scene.

As of now, that has not happened. And I would like to thank everyone for their support so far. You have been really supportive, both in reviews and in private messages. Some responses to questions I cannot answer directly will be at the end lf the chapter.

* * *

**Human**

**Rin's Capture Arc**

**Chapter 3**

**Rin**

* * *

It hurt to walk. It hurt to breathe. Hell, it even hurt to blink the sweat from her eyes.

She had never so much as exercised without chakra before today, and she had pushed herself far beyond any limit she thought she had.

What was more, she was probably going to pass out from blood loss before they got back to Konoha. What had she been thinking, jumping in front of Kakashi's Chidori? She was certifiable.

He was probably so mad at her. He'd risked everything to get her out of there and she'd repaid him by attempting suicide. With his jutsu.

On the bright side, the clarity brought on by the pain of having her arm decimated allowed her to think.

She considered that she may have been under a genjutsu before she'd been hit with the Chidori, but she would never know for certain.

Rin vowed to make it up to Kakashi somehow. What she had attempted wasn't fair to him. Or to herself.

Or Obito.

"Rin," Kakashi rasped from behind her. She stopped moving, back ramrod straight. This was it, he was going to lay into her for being a thoughtless bitch. She turned around in the darkness just in time to see her teammate fall face first to the ground.

"Kakashi!" Rin said, panic stricken

Kakashi was not allowed to faint right now. Rin was in no condition whatsoever to fight.

She rushed to his side and rolled him to his back. He was breathing, but it was faint, and his pulse was not strong. "You can't faint on me Kakashi. I need you. I can't do this without you."

She tried to fight back tears in her panic at being alone in her situation. She took deep breaths and looked around for any signs of hostile action. When nothing happened immediately, Rin focused again on Kakashi.

They had at least a little time.

"Please wake up, Kakashi. I can't exactly fight right now. My chakra is… my chakra is broken." Once she started, she found she could not stop A floodgate of confession had opened. She started babbling as she knelt over her comrade.

"I want to thank you properly for keeping me safe. I thought I was going to die every moment I was held captive. The man in charge of those ninja, he… he… tortured me. Pain I didn't know was possible, Kakashi. And then when you rescued me, I knew in my heart that the only way to keep you safe was to die. But that isn't true. We can fix this. We can go home and… and… and live." Her tears were falling freely now, dripping with soft pat-pat-pats onto his Chunin vest.

"I'm so sorry I jumped in front of your Chidori. I was out of my head. It was stupid and so, so cruel." Rin put her forehead on Kakashi's chest. She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I know it's my fault you're tired. If I was stronger, I wouldn't have been captured. I'll work harder, okay? Please wake up. Please…"

She cried until she was thirsty and no more tears would fall. She took long, deep breaths, and forced herself to count down from ten.

10…

She needed to secure a location while they rested.

9…

That would require finding somewhere even remotely defensible.

8…

She had to do this without using any chakra.

7…

And with one arm.

6…

Her mission gear was gone, likely back at the Mist hideout.

5…

She could go through Kakashi's things, and put together a plan.

4…

They couldn't risk a fire. Not without genjutsu to hide it.

3…

She was cold, but they could cuddle for warmth if the temperature fell any lower.

2…

She needed to move Kakashi so that he was hidden.

1…

She could do this.

Rin raised her head, breathing steady and even, and deep. She began emptying Kakashi's mission gear and pockets, taking stock of what supplies she had available to her. Kakashi's tanto would be useful for cutting branches. It was infinitely sharper than a kunai. Kakashi also had smoke bombs, ninja wire, and a handful of shuriken. He had a small scroll on him, contained within were key things like a tent, sleeping bag, medicine, and foodstuffs. Unfortunately, Rin could not hope to access those without use of her chakra. And she didn't dare try to use her chakra again, not after her attempt while in captivity.

First thing's first, Rin thought, I need to clean up my arm, make sure it doesn't get infected.

Rin clipped Kakashi's water canteen to her belt, and grabbed Kakashi's tanto.

With Kakashi's tanto in hand, she set off to find a beehive. It took her almost an hour in the dark, but she did eventually spot one. She found some dried twigs on the ground, and piled them up beneath the hive. Then she found some larger branches to use as fuel. She found some supple and young branches from nearby trees, and set those aside as well.

Then she set about starting the kindling she'd collected. She lined them with the larger branches, and set the green leaves and young branches atop them. The resulting smoke would drive the bees out of the hive, and then she would have access to the honey.

While she waited, Rin tore the sleeve off of her bad arm, removed her wrap, and tried to make a sling. It was frustrating with one hand. By the time she had something even remotely serviceable, the bees were swarming around the smoke, and Rin cut open the hive.

There was a lot of honey. _Thank god_, Rin thought.

She took Kakashi's canteen, and poured the water over her bloodied arm, gently rinsing the dried blood and dirt away. Rin put the tanto between her teeth. Then reached into the hive and scooped out a handful of honey. She grimaced and bit down. This was going to hurt. A lot.

She slathered the wound with honey. It burned like holy hellfire. She screamed into the tanto, biting even harder. When her arm was slathered in honey, Rin forced her arm into the makeshift sling.

Everything was sticky, but the Honey would prevent infection, and give her arm time to stop bleeding. Satisfied with her work, she stomped out the fire. Leaving it any longer was asking to be found.

Rin returned to Kakashi and assessed her situation once more. With her wound temporarily treated, she was safe to move without blood loss or risk of infection. She needed a place to work from.

She moved all of Kakashi's accessible gear to the base of a large, nearby tree, then took Kakashi's right hand in her good one, and dragged him into a nearby cluster of bushes. She grabbed his tanto from the pile at the base of the tree, and hacked off a few low branches that had thick leaves. It was awkward, but after a minute of rearranging the branches, Kakashi was hidden from anyone who did not know he was there.

She then took a lap around the area where Kakashi was. Roughly fifteen minutes in every direction. There were no positions that were any more defensible than where Kakashi already was. And considering there was no way in hell she could move him any major distance it would have to do.

Once she was at Kakashi's side again, she checked him over once more. No external injuries. She hoped he would wake soon. The likelihood she would survive a confrontation with an enemy combatant was non existent.

Rin took up the tanto again and hacked down several more branches, doing her best to create a small shelter for her teammate. Then she started to set a perimeter for defense. Rin tied wire traps with what kunai and shuriken Kakashi had. She sharpened tree branches and set those with wire when she ran out of steel. Next were the smoke bombs, set to go off as a warning and to obscure the other traps.

When she had rigged up as much as she could with one hand, slow going though it had been, Rin wiped her brow and started covering her tracks. Leaving no signs that she had booby trapped the area. It took forever. By the time her handiwork was all but invisible, the sun was rising.

But she knew she could not afford to rest. If she stopped moving she would fall asleep, and Rin was afraid that sleeping would result in both their deaths.

Instead, Rin began laying false trails in varying directions. A half hour walk in one direction, followed by careful backtracking. Rinse and repeat ad nauseam.

By midday, Rin was spent.

She settled for standing guard near Kakashi's location, changing her position every time she felt her consciousness slipping.

Rin maintained her vigil for an hour, before she slipped into unconsciousness.

It was a fitful rest, full of panic, terror, and agonizing memories.

...In her dreams, she did not survive the Chidori...

The sound of a smoke bomb detonating woke her. Rin blinked awake just as her kunai traps were triggered. Through the smoke, she heard a man scream in pain. Another man barked orders, several sounds of affirmative, and then a water jutsu tore through the forest.

_A group ninjutsu!_ Rin realized too late.

Rin was engulfed in the flood, trying desperately to swim with one arm. The current overwhelmed her and she was flung an unknown distance from Kakashi. Rin hit a tree hard, and she lost all sense of direction. She was going to drown.

When the water receded, Rin sputtered and coughed, gasping desperately for breath. She pulled herself to her knees, and choked out water she hadn't even realized she had swallowed.

"Shit," Rin said to nobody in particular. "Fuck. Shit. Fuck."

Everything hurt. Everything. Everywhere.

She tried to stand, but her left leg buckled and pain nearly robbed her of consciousness. There was no way she could fight back like this, she knew, but she had to try. Rin forced herself to her feet, and settled her weight on her right leg. She cast around for Kakashi's tanto, and saw that it was impaled in a tree fifty yards away.

Rin hobbled to it. And desperately tried to pull it loose with her left hand. It took several seconds of frustrated tugging to pull it free. When it came loose, Rin went with it, tumbling to the ground. The impact sent more pain coursing through her injured arm and leg.

Rin cried out in pain, eyes blurring with tears. She blinked to clear them away.

There were footsteps behind her, and then the cold steel of a kunai was resting against her throat. The tanto was pulled from her grip. Rin's stomach dropped, and a dread settled within her.

"The game is over, little girl," A man said. "Though I admit, you and your little friend gave us more trouble than we thought possible. So know that he'll go to his death screaming in pain, and you'll come back for further experimentation."

Rin snarled. "Don't you dare touch him!"

Several men laughed.

"As if you could stop us," Another voice taunted.

"What are you going to do about it, girl? You're crippled and your friend is unconscious." The first man again. A hand fisted in her hair and she was pulled unceremoniously upright into the air, not quite able to touch the ground.

"Ahh!" Rin screamed at the pain.

"You can watch him die if you want," The Mist ninja said.

Counting the man holding her, there were five of them.

Two of the Mist ninja pulled a waterlogged Kakashi forward. Rin tried to claw at the hand holding her up, and received a punch to her stomach that knocked the breath from her lungs for her trouble. She choked and coughed, desperate for air.

More laughing.

"Eyes up, girl," The man said. "Your friend is going to get his fingers cut off one by one. You should watch."

"Screw you," Rin said. She reached for the man's hand again. Her effort was batted away with ease.

The kunai that had been at her throat pierced her flesh, clear through the bicep of her left arm. Rin opened her mouth, but no sound came out, she convulsed in midair, and her head lulled to the side, left arm limp at her side. She wanted to just drift away until there was nothingness. She let herself fade...

A hand cracked across her face, bringing clarity back to her.

"No time to rest," The man said, grabbing her jaw and holding her head up. Blood dripped from her mouth. The last strike had split her lip and cut the inside of her mouth against her teeth.

"Kakashi! Kakashi wake up!" Rin slurred around the blood. Her voice was desperate, raspy, emotional.

Another strike left Rin reeling. Her scalp was numb and her cheeks swollen. Kakashi did not stir. Rin began to struggle against the grip of her captor, desperately trying to save her.

"She's feisty!" The man holding her said to raucous laughter. "Let's put a stop to that."

In a flash, Kakashi's tanto was glinting in the sunlight. He buried it to the hilt in her stomach. Blood ballooned from her mouth, and Rin spasmed. She couldn't breathe. This was how she was going to die, she knew, but she wished Kakashi could live. He deserved better than to be killed because of her weakness.

"Kill the boy. We need to get this brat back to the base before she bleeds to death."

_No! Kakashi can't die. Not now. Not like this. Please not like this. Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease._

She had never been this scared in her life. Never so wild and blind with panic.

Rin felt something brush her mind, something dark, dangerous, powerful. It could help her, she realized. The power could save Kakashi. She reached for it, and chakra flooded her body. To her carnal delight, it did not hurt. She was alive with power! Kakashi's tanto flew from her flesh, and was flung somewhere into the trees. Rin twisted with a rabid ferocity, her hair tore from her scalp and she pulled away from the Mist ninja who was holding onto her. She clawed out the throat of the man who had tortured her with her bare hand, and felt an overwhelming rush of glee when his blood covered her skin.

He collapsed with a gargle and lay still. She giggled.

Oh yes, she felt good. Better than she'd ever felt. Powerful, unstoppable, mighty.

Rin ripped her arm free of its sling and smiled at the remaining ninja. She flexed her arm experimentally. No pain, only strength, only the ability to kill these people. To protect Kakashi from their filthy hands.

She pounced on another ninja, this one, she vaguely realized, was very badly burned. Her hands clasped upon his shoulders and she drove her knee into his groin before biting his neck and pulling out his jugular. The taste of blood filled her mouth and she reveled in it. There was noise behind her, and she wheeled on her next victim, her feral grin was now sick, twisted, bloody.

Rin felt her sense of self slip from her. She was death incarnate. She was life. She loved this new power. Nothing would ever take it from her! She could protect and kill at her discretion, and nothing could stop her.

"What are you?" The man shouted, his face pale, and voice wavering. He was terrified. Rin laughed. The full laugh of someone without worry or regret or care. The laugh of someone who enjoyed that this man was afraid. Afraid like she had been.

"Die!" Rin yelled in a voice far too deep, and wild and unhinged to be her own. The Mist ninja swung a kunai at her, shaky and desperate. She drew back her right fist and easily batted away his kunai with her left hand. The metal blade shattered beneath her fist. She punched with her left, and drove her hand straight through his heart. Whatever part of Rin that had taken over greatly enjoyed watching the man die. With a newfound casual disinterest, Rin lifted the man and threw the man backwards over her head. His blood cascaded on her hair and shoulders as his lifeless body arced over her, and she fixed her gaze on the last three men, all of them were standing around Kakashi, two holding weapons.

She'd kill them for even being that close to him.

A primal roar escaped her throat and she charged. The closest of the three managed to evade her first two fury driven punches, but the third swing caught him in the face and she watched as his jaw was ripped clean from his face. Without a second glance she spun around and delivered a kick to the next mist ninja. He was lifted off his feet and thrown over the third man. He collided with the trunk of a tree, and light left his eyes when his head snapped back violently upon impact.

"Stop," the last man said feebly.

"No! I have to kill you all. I have to protect my friend." Rin growled.

"Please," he asked her.

Blinded by her rage, Rin jumped toward him and drove her fist into his stomach. It would have been a killing blow like all the others, but the last man had twisted at the last second. Instead of killing him, she enjoyed the crunch of his cracking ribs. He grasped her wrist with his right hand as he twisted, and they both fell to the ground. He tried to untangle himself from her, but she was faster, stronger.

Rin was on her feet first. She grabbed her final enemy by the collar and dragged him upright. With an ease she hardly thought possible even minutes before, Rin carried him to the nearest tree.

He tried to break her grip, but couldn't. _How pathetic._

She roughly shoved him against the trunk, and his head slammed against the tree with a satisfying thunk. He grunted in pain and she released him. He slumped down, knees buckling. Rin lifted him back to his feet, and pinned him against the tree with one hand. She punched him, once, twice, three times, but he didn't die.

"Rin," the man wheezed. "Please stop. Please come back." His voice was so quiet. So broken. So weak.

She headbutted the man, and blood fell from his brow to his eyes. She raked her hand across his face and he convulsed violently. His mask fell from his bloodied face, torn by her fingers.

"I'm here," he whispered. "I'll always be right beside you."

Why did he know her name? Why wasn't he running, or fighting back?

She couldn't see him clearly. Everything was a haze of violence, and glee, and arousal. She blinked. Was his hair silver?

The bloodlust left her eyes and she saw that she was holding Kakashi against the tree. Kakashi, not a faceless Mist ninja. Kakashi, who was hovering on the edge of life and death. She recoiled, and he fell gracelessly to the ground.

"K-Kakashi?" Rin asked after a very long moment. She was shaking. She fell to her knees. She crawled to him, she shook his shoulder. Nothing, no response. She checked his pulse, he was too still. He wasn't breathing, she realized. He wasn't breathing!

* * *

Author's Note: Pretty intense, no? If you liked it, show some love with a follow or a favorite! Today's question, in addition anything else you want to include in your review: How did you like Rin's first brush with the Sanbi?

I wanted Rin to be wild with fear when she tapped the chakra, so I went with a cornered animal's desperate final attempt to fight back as my theme.

To answer some questions:

_Are you shipping RinxKakashi?_

I won't answer that directly. Just know that in fantasy fiction, there is usually at least some kind of romantic or sexual subplot.

_Will this story be a long one?_

Yes. I just have to, you know, keep updating it.

Not a specific question, but there was lots of talk of the Sanbi coming up in later chapters, and we will see a lot more of that.

Also, if you don't review anonymously, I can answer the questions via PM.


	5. Rin's Capture Arc - 4

Author's Note: It's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry about that. Life has been super weird this year, but I am happy to report that I am still writing, and this is where I found my inspiration to start back up again. I hope you're ready to continue from where our story left off!

Before we get started, I would like to announce that I've gone back through and fixed a few grammar and spelling issues in previous chapters that I noticed when rereading my story before writing this chapter. Hopefully it is much easier to digest if you're reading through a second time, or if any newcomers make it this far! This is also the first chapter with more than one point of view - which is not something I am generally a huge fan of. I just felt it was the best way to share this chapter, so it is what it is.

My biggest challenge in writing this chapter was getting started, actually. I wrote so many different versions of different scenes with both Minato and Kushina as the point of view character. What we have here is what I ultimately decided was the most realistic and fitting for our story as it stands. This decision included a lot of scouring of the wiki and google for notes and musings on the Naruto timeline and world-building. Anyway, I'll check in with you again at the close of the chapter! Enjoy!

* * *

**Human**

**Rin's Capture Arc**

**Chapter 4**

**Kushina**

* * *

Kushina sat in the lotus position, her hands in the tiger seal. She was in the ancient shrine on the edge of the Leaf village. She came here to meditate often, to focus her chakras, and to be close to the only known standing memory of her clan. Around her was a history that she was determined not to forget, the history of her clan, her people.

What little had survived the destruction of Uzushiogakure, the Whirlpool Village, was now here, stored and sealed away until the day her clan was restored. Though she had little hope of ever finding another member of her clan. It had been years, and there was never a sign.

Tomorrow, she would make her annual trip to the ruins of her birth village, and see if anyone had arrived. As a clan heiress, and Jonin, Kushina had organized and paid for a D rank mission with no end date. Every ninja outpost and allied village was supplied with information for any members of the Uzumaki clan to rendezvous in the old Whirlpool village on a certain day every year.

She had paid for this mission every year since she'd been promoted to Chunin, but never once had anyone showed up. She didn't expect any change. But she had to keep hoping.

With a final slow, deep breath, Kushina opened her eyes, lowered her seal, and got to her feet. She needed to get home, pack for her mission, and rustle up some dinner. She'd probably eat out tonight.

Her fiancé was on a mission, so there was little reason to head home first. That meant it was ramen time. She exited the shrine, bowing with respect to her fallen clan, closed the door, and reapplied the seals that kept the shrine in pristine condition, and kept anyone who wasn't her out.

Five minutes later she was back in the village proper, and a moment after that, she was entering the newly established ramen shop run by Teuchi - a recently retired Jonin. He'd suffered a very nasty wound during the Third Ninja War, and could no longer use ninjutsu.

"Ah, Kushina," Teuchi said boisterously when she entered. "Good to see you!"

"It's good to see you, too, Teuchi. How are you adjusting to civilian life?" Kushina asked, taking a seat at the bar.

"It's as good as it can be, I suppose. I think I've really got down the miso recipe now. Hopefully business will start picking up soon," Teuchi said.

"Well you know I'm a loyal customer. Have to look out for my former squad leader, after all," Kushina said.

Teuchi chuckled. "I was your squad leader in war time, and only for a few months. It's not like I was your Jonin sensei."

Kushina shrugged. "We're friends, Teuchi. You know that I always look out for my friends. And I love ramen."

Teuchi really laughed now. "My ramen is terrible. I chose to make it a ramen stand because you took me out to eat at a ramen stand when I got out of the hospital. Stuck with me for some reason. Gave me purpose, no matter how small."

"You'll become a great ramen chef, Teuchi. I know it," Kushina said, beaming at her former captain.

He smiled at her, a bittersweet expression crossing his face in a flash. It was gone in less than a second, but Kushina had seen it. She felt horrible for him. She didn't know what she would do if she lost the ability to safely mould her chakra. Losing a limb wasn't necessarily a deathblow to a ninja's career in the same way that a permanent injury to the chakra network was. It would have been kinder if he'd lost an arm.

Teuchi waved a hand dismissively. "It'll happen or it won't. What'll you have?"

Kushina ordered, and Teuchi turned to prepare her bowl. She swiveled on the barstool, throwing an elbow onto the counter and leaning back. People bustled this way and that, as they finished their business for the day, and Kushina enjoyed the few moments watching them. Konoha was peaceful at night, and she liked the sleepy feeling that permeated the air.

A squad of Genin entered the ramen shop, talking animatedly to each other. "I can't believe our first mission was to pull weeds!" One of the Genin said.

His teammates agreed.

Kushina laughed. She did not miss the pointless missions that all young ninja started with.

"Here's your ramen," Teuchi said, putting a bowl down in front of her. Kushina swiveled in her bar stool, barely able to contain her eagerness, and reached for a pair of chopsticks.

"Thanks for the food, Teuchi," Kushina said. She broke apart her chopsticks, and looked at her bowl with a smile. She hadn't had a bowl of ramen in nearly a week. And while it wasn't a record, it was still up there as a testament to her own self-restraint. The steam brought the warm aroma to her nose, and she breathed in the inviting smell of the broth. Even if it wasn't the best in the village, she knew it would hit the spot. Ramen always hit the spot.

"Kushina Uzumaki!" A voice said from behind her.

She paused, her first bite halfway to her mouth, and sighed. The official tone of the ninja behind her could only mean that she was being called to the mission desk or to an intelligence briefing. And leaving meant no ramen. Unacceptable. "What is it?"

"You have a mission. You are to report to the Hokage at once." Kushina put her chopsticks in her bowl, and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"I know I have a mission. I'm scheduled to leave tomorrow morning." Maybe if she just said no she would be allowed to eat the ramen. Yes, that would totally work. Kushina picked up her chopsticks and plucked a particularly delicious looking noodle from the broth.

"You misunderstand. You are being assigned to a new mission, effective immediately. You are to report to the Hokage's office."

Kushina slapped her chopsticks back into the bowl, and turned around with a scowl on her face. A young Chunin she did not recognize was standing a tactically sound amount of steps away from her. He seemed nervous. And she liked that. Because even if he was just following orders he was interrupting ramen time.

Ramen time was sacred.

"All right," Kushina said with a long suffering sigh. She fished money from her pocket and slapped it on the counter next to her untouched ramen. "See you next time, Teuchi!"

Kushina ditched the Chunin on principle, and made her way to the Hokage's tower, using the rooftops to avoid any foot traffic. She landed gracefully outside the tower, and opened the large doors.

"Can I help you?" Asked a receptionist.

"I've been summoned by the Hokage. Uzumaki Kushina reporting in."

The secretary nodded, checked a sheet of paper on her desk, and said, "You are requested for an urgent assignment. Priority one. Go on up."

Kushina took the stairs three at a time, turned the corner and followed the curved hallway until she was in front of the large double doors of the Hokage's office. She knocked.

"Enter."

She pushed the doors open, and entered the office. One she hoped to call her own some day. It was spacious and circular, lined with bookshelves along two walls. The back wall was taken up by windows overlooking the village, and in the center of the room was a large wooden desk. The Hokage was seated behind the desk, hands folded in front of his face.

"Thank you for coming in such short notice," Hiruzen Sarutobi, The Hokage, said as Kushina stepped into the room.

"Is there a complication with my mission to Whirlpool?" Kushina asked, stopping before the desk. There was a dog she recognized as Pakkun drinking from a bowl near the desk. Were Kakashi and Rin back already? They'd stopped by before they left on a scouting mission to see their sensei, but Minato had already departed on a long mission to the Land of Earth. She'd promised to pass their mission details along if Minato returned before his students.

"No," Hiruzen said. He took a deep breath, and fidgeted with his pipe. "There's no easy way to say this, Kushina, but I have an urgent A rank mission for you. Kakashi and Rin ran into some hostile ninja on their scouting mission. Pakkun delivered the report that Rin was captured by enemy ninja - their route would suggest hold outs from the Mist village, but Kakashi didn't give Pakkun specifics on their origin. He tracked Rin and her captors to a hidden base, and sent Pakkun to get backup."

Kushina clenched her fists. While they'd never officially been her students. She'd spent countless hours with her fiancé's team, helping them learn, eating with them, laughing with them, and crying alongside them. When Obito had died, they'd all felt his absence deeply. She couldn't even imagine how Kakashi must be feeling. Losing a second teammate, especially so soon after Obito had passed, would be devastating.

"Is my mission to back them up?" Kushina asked. Already she was making a pre-mission prep list.

The Hokage nodded.

"Parameters?" Kushina asked, putting her exuberant personality behind the competent, professional ninja training.

"Find Kakashi Hatake, back him up, and recover Rin Nohara. If possible, capture an enemy for possible interrogation," The Hokage said. He opened a tin on his desk, and picked out a small amount of pipe tobacco.

Kushina nodded. "Am I meeting with anyone else, or is this a solo mission?"

Hiruzen packed the tobacco into his pipe, lighting it with a snap of his fingers. "We don't have time to organize a full team, and our forces are spread thin in the aftermath of the war. I need you to leave within the hour. However, if you come across anyone on your way out of the village, you have my permission to recruit them for your mission. Within reason."

"If I find anyone, I'll let the Chunin on guard at the gate know," Kushina said. "What about Minato? He can get there faster than any of us. Do we have a way to get a message to him?"

"Unfortunately, he is deep in the field, and the only one who could send him a message is Jiraiya, who is in the Land of Storms, which is in the opposite direction." The Hokage let out a long breath. "It's not an ideal situation, but that's war."

"The war is over, Lord Hokage," Kushina said.

Hiruzen smiled wryly. "If only that were true. Our wars are never over. They are just less overt from time to time."

"You should still send someone to Jiraiya, and to Minato. The more pieces we have in motion, the better off we'll be." Kushina crossed her arms, trying to keep her temper in check.

"Our resources are spread thin enough as it is, Kushina. Sending more ninja away from the village now will leave us vulnerable. And as much as I hate to say it, Kakashi Hatake and Rin Nohara are hardly our most valuable assets." The Hokage said.

She saw red. "They're just kids, damnit! They're good kids who have been through more hell than they should ever have to." It was true. She'd already been in a relationship with Minato when he'd taken the squad on as their Jonin instructor, so she knew the kids very well. She'd been their unofficial second sensei for years. They were part of her family.

"They are fully qualified ninja of the Leaf, and they are doing their duty," The Hokage said.

Kushina scowled, and bit the inside of her mouth hard enough to draw blood. "Yes, sir. I understand that your orders are in the best interest of the village." She tasted blood, and she all but spat the words at their leader.

"Then you are dismissed," The Hokage said. "Take Pakkun with you, he can guide you to Kakashi's last known location.

Pakkun rose and trotted across the office. "I'll follow your lead."

Kushina turned to leave, but paused at the door. Taking a breath to steady herself. "Lord Hokage?"

"Yes?" He prompted.

"What about my mission to Whirlpool?" Kushina asked. "I know it's not likely that anyone is there, but… but it's important to me. Are we spread too thin for that, as well?"

"You are free to head to Whirlpool after this mission has been resolved," The Hokage said.

"Thank you, sir," Kushina said, and she exited the office in a huff.

She and Pakkun took the streets instead of the rooftops. Kushina was hoping against hope that she'd bump into another off duty Jonin. Or at least a full squad of Chunin. Chances weren't high. It was getting late. Most ninja were resting for tomorrow's work, or already off on missions.

"How far out are we going, Pakkun?" Kushina asked Kakashi's dog as they turned down a small street that led towards the outer ring of houses near the east wall of the village. Kushina and Minato had just moved into a brand new home that was constructed on the edges of the village. While out of the way, it was the perfect place to raise a family.

Not that they wanted kids just yet. But someday soon, perhaps. Like after Kushina was Hokage. Then she'd be stuck in the village anyway. Which made it the perfect time. But for now they had to focus on rescuing what remained of Minato's team.

"I ran non stop for almost a full day," Pakkun said. "They were about as far away from Konoha as you can get before falling into the ocean."

"That's not good," Kushina said. "We'll have to make good time, if we want to have any impact on the outcome of their mission."

When they arrived at Kushina's home, she was in and out in a matter of minutes. Dressed in her shinobi uniform, headband tied in place, with several scrolls of sealed ninja supplies, food, and medicine in her vest, and a ration bar half eaten in her mouth.

"Let's go!" Kushina said with her mouth full.

She and Pakkun made a mad dash for the village gate. The buildings flashed by in a blur, and they touched down at the exit to the Leaf village in under a minute.

A team of Chunin was showing their documentation to the guards at the gate. Kushina smirked as she strode towards them. She only recognized one of the kids, a member of Maito Gai's Genin team, Genma Shiranui. The other two she was sure she'd seen before, but she couldn't put names to their faces.

"Man," Genma said after he handed his ninja id to the guards. "I am so glad we're done with that mission. Three weeks escorting a construction crew to outposts. What an absolute bore."

"I can't wait for a hot shower and a warm meal. Trail rations are the worst!" Another of the Chunin said to a chorus of agreement.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but I am going to be taking your squad on a high priority mission," Kushina said.

"What? Now?" Genma asked. "But we just got back, and we haven't even reported to the mission desk yet."

"Yes, now," Kushina said. "I have permission from Lord Hokage to take any backup I deem necessary. It's more a matter of timing than preference. I had less than an hour to prep and get out of the village, and your team just so happened to be here when I touched down."

"What's the mission?" Asked one of Genma's squad mates.

"I'll tell you en-route. We'll be pushing it. No rest tonight," Kushina said. She turned to the guards. "Please pass along to Lord Hokage that I am taking command of this unit for my mission and that they will report the details of their previous mission when we return."

The Chunin guards nodded, and Kushina motioned for Pakkun to lead the way.

"First things first," She said. "Sound off. The only one of you I know is Genma."

"Genma Shiranui," Genma said.

"I'm Raido Namiashi."

"And I'm Iwashi Tatami."

"Nice to meet you all," Kushina said. "I'm Kushina Uzumaki, Jonin, and this mission is A ranked. We're being sent as backup for Kakashi Hatake and Rin Nohara. They were on a routine scouting mission when Rin was taken by hostile ninja - Lord Hokage suspects they were from Hidden Mist, but it's not confirmed. Kakashi went in pursuit and sent Pakkun here to inform the village. That was over twenty-four hours ago."

"That's not good," Raido said.

"Are you and your team in good enough shape to travel without rest?" Kushina asked.

"We are," Genma said. "It was just an escort mission to some of the outposts, we haven't been in combat for weeks. It was Iwashi's first mission as a Chunin squad leader."

"We can do this," Iwashi agreed. "Let's go save our comrades."

"Good to hear you're ready for this mission. It's sure to be dangerous," Kushina said. "I'll need to get a basic idea of your abilities before we get there. Genma, you start."

They turned from the road, following behind Pakkun as he took to the trees. They were running to the east, away from the setting sun, and into potentially hostile enemy territory. But they would have the advantage of being Leaf ninja in a dense forest.

"Right," Genma said. "Let's give you the rundown of our skills."

* * *

**Rin**

* * *

The chakra cloak that surrounded her would have burned under normal circumstances. But it didn't. It was warm, and powerful.

There had been fear.

And then uncontrollable anger.

There had been a bloodlust that she couldn't sate.

And then the carnal pleasure of violence.

Rin slowly came back to her senses, body trembling and breath erratic. She was covered in blood, everywhere. The smell, the wetness, the stickiness were disgusting. Around her were dead men, and before her was her dying teammate. Her dying best friend.

She'd done this. She'd done that to him. He was going to die and it was her fault. But she felt the energy of the monster with and around her. She was a medic, and she could fix him. Willing herself not to break down and cry.

If she panicked now, he was going to die. But if she attempted ninjutsu, the pain would return and she would feel only agony. What choice was there, though? Kakashi was on death's door and it was her fault! She had to try, despite the risk.

"I can do this," She said in a voice not her own. It was deep, guttural, powerful. What had she been turned into?

Rin made the hand seals for the mystical palm jutsu and watched as her chakra cloaked hands turned green. Or what should have been. The chakra that was leaking from her was turning everything gray and purple.

She looked Kakashi over. He was a mess of blood and cuts and bruises. She put her hands to his leg and focused on restoring him. It was the smell that alerted her first. Burning flesh.

With a gasp, she pulled her hands away from Kakashi's leg and saw, to her horror, that instead of stemming the flow of blood from a wound, she had cauterized the cut and burned the skin off of nearly a foot of his upper leg.

"No!" Rin screamed, falling away from Kakashi and scrambling back until she was up against the trunk of a nearby tree.

She brushed her body with her hands blindly as the panic swelled within her. She tried to pull off the chakra that surrounded her as one might try to pull a spider web from themselves. Rin knew nothing but overwhelming fear as she screamed in terror and blindly scraped at herself. All she wanted was for the chakra to go away, but it persisted. Flaring wildly around her as she lost all control and sense of herself.

Rin thrashed about wildly, slamming herself against the tree as she flailed.

The world around her faded when she slammed the back of her head against the tree. She wanted it to stop. She hit her head again, and again and again until there was nothing.

Rin drifted. She ached, but somehow she was comfortable. She was calm in this place. It was away from the reality of her mission. Of her dead or dying teammate. She could forget here.

Everything was too loud and too quiet simultaneously. Darkness and light danced together in infinity. Distance was, and it wasn't.

The world was too close, and laughably far away.

It was like… well it was like floating in an ocean, only everything was dark. But dark didn't describe it well, because she could see her hands just fine, and the turtle was visible some ways away. There just wasn't any need for light, even if everything was visible here. And her surroundings were shrouded in darkness. Or perhaps nothingness.

And where here was, Rin didn't know. It was here, and it was there. Then and now.

There were sounds from elsewhere, and Rin sat up to look for them. Or, she thought she stood up. But she hadn't really been lying down to begin with. Or had she been sitting already when she stood? Or had she not moved anything but her head at all?

The sound, she eventually decided, was too far away and there were things more interesting here in the place with too much light and darkness.

She stood up, or so she thought, because when it came to it, Rin wasn't entirely certain she'd been lying down in the first place. And hadn't she stood already? Or sat up?

It was just... too hard to focus. She wasn't there, in that other place. She was here, in her dark and light place, with a turtle. It was off in the distance, swimming around in the nothingness. It looked cute.

A turtle? Why a turtle?

Rin had never had a turtle as a pet, or talked to one by any of the rivers or creeks in Konoha. She didn't think she'd seen one anywhere except for in books. She decided she liked it.

It wasn't her turtle, though, so why was she in this nowhere place with a turtle?

Perhaps the turtle would tell her what to do. Or at least explain what was happening.

Yes. That made sense. The turtle would explain. She could tell it knew what was happening, because it was swimming around without a care in the world.

She walked towards the tiny turtle, but it felt like floating. Or maybe it felt like flying through the air. Or swimming.

It quickly became clear that the turtle wasn't small, it was just very, very far away. Relatively speaking, at any rate. There was no way for her to tell how far she had or hadn't gone.

When she did finally get to the turtle, she was surprised to see that it was larger than any building she'd ever seen. It was big, and gray, and it had three tails. Rin wasn't even sure if regular turtles had tails in the first place. And she was sure she was supposed to be afraid of it. But this place was like no dream she'd ever had, and she felt nothing and everything all at once.

"Excuse me!" Rin called to the turtle.

The turtle shifted, and suddenly she was in front of its single, massive eye. The other one was closed, or missing, she reasoned. The turtle said nothing.

"Where are we?" Rin asked.

The turtle said nothing once again. It felt almost like it was sizing her up, but the turtle had to know that she was smaller than it was. Rin decided it was a silly turtle.

"Are you lost, too, Mister Turtle?" Rin asked.

The turtle blinked. "What do you want, human?"

"You can talk!" Rin cheered. But her voice was wrong. It was echoey and far away, but it was also too close and too loud.

"What do you want?" The turtle repeated.

"Want?" Rin asked. "Why would I want anything? I'm just here to float. There's nothing to worry about here."

"You took my chakra," The turtle said. "I did not give you permission."

"Took your… chakra?" Rin said. "But then you're the…" Rin screamed and tried to swim or fly or run away from the Turtle as fast as she could. But it was like she was caught in a riptide. The turtle never got farther away.

"Why are you in my prison?" The turtle asked. Rin didn't know why she was here, or how she got here.

"Go away!" Rin shrieked. "You made me kill Kakashi!"

"What you did with the stolen Chakra is not my responsibility, human. You took a power you cannot hope to understand, and now you fear it. You fear my power." It was not a question. It was a statement of fact.

The nothingness trembled with power, and ripples of chakra flowed out from the three-tailed turtle. Rin couldn't breathe, couldn't think. All she knew was terror.

"Help!" She called to the nothingness. "Help me!"

But no help came, and she was swept away into the infinity of darkness and terror.

* * *

Author's Note: If you enjoyed, please show support with a follow/fav and leaving a review if you're up to it. The more readers we have, the more feedback the story gets! It's also really cool to hit big milestones. What did you think of the three tails?


	6. Rin's Capture Arc - 5

Author's Note: It's good to be back so quickly (and with our longest chapter yet)! I'm super excited to get this arc finished up - I'm thinking in one or two more chapters after this one.

I've had a few reviews and direct messages about Obito not arriving, and all I will say is that it will be addressed in time. I'll leave it open to you. Maybe he's really dead, maybe something else happened to him with Madara, maybe none of those things. That's what's great about fanfiction, the story doesn't have to be the same. Have you noticed that Rin isn't a shishkebab?

* * *

**Human**

**Rin's Capture Arc**

**Chapter 5**

**Kushina**

* * *

What they found when they arrived was, to say the very least, not what Kushina had expected. Pakkun had smelled it long before they arrived on the scene, and had informed them that he could smell Rin and Kakashi - and blood, lots and lots of blood. Their course was corrected accordingly, and Kushina noted that this location was hours closer than Pakkun had predicted.

The poor dog nearly collapsed when they arrived. "I can't pick them out. Too much blood in the air," Pakkun said. Instead, he clambered up onto Kushina's shoulder and sat as a sentinel.

"What the hell happened here?" Genma asked when they touched down.

"I… I don't know," Kushina said. The ground was covered in mud, trees had been upended or blown to pieces, and there were bodies strewn everywhere. The sight was one of the most disturbing she'd seen in a long time. "Spread out and look for them!"

"Must have been one hell of a battle," Raido said offhandedly.

"Do you think they're okay?" Iwashi asked.

"I don't know," Raido said. "It doesn't look like anyone survive. Let's hope the damage was done by Rin and Kakashi."

"Just focus on finding them," Genma said. "Battlefields like this aren't known for their good news."

She knelt down and turned over a body that was face down in the mud. She grimaced when she saw the still oozing hole in his neck. Someone had torn out his throat. Her eyes flicked to his forehead. Mist Village. She pushed the body back down and moved onto the next one.

A man with a hole straight through his chest. It was big enough to be someone's fist. The lack of cauterization led Kushina to believe that it was not Kakashi's Chidori that did the damage. Kushina gagged and bit back bile.

The gore and the smell were beginning to get to her. She'd fought in battles before, but she'd never personally scavenged one hours after it had taken place. It was equal parts disgusting and disturbing.

Whatever had happened in this part of the forest had been unmistakably, unforgivably violent.

"I found one of them!" Iwashi called. "It's the girl, Rin."

Kushina was across the battlefield in an instant, eyes looking over the pushed Iwashi aside and knelt beside the girl. She was covered in blood from head to toe, and one of her arms was covered in something both muddy and sticky. Rin had a heartbeat, however. And she was breathing. "It looks like she's not in any immediate danger," Kushina said.

Carefully as possible, she sat Rin against the tree she was closest to. Kushina checked Rin from head to toe, cursing the fact that she had no medical training whatsoever. Her clothes were torn and dirty as sin, but she was not openly bleeding anywhere. Unless she had severe damage internally, Kushina felt confident that Rin was going to be okay.

She started to turn away when she felt something strange in Rin's chakra. Kushina Uzumaki possessed the rare gifts that her clan's blood passed on genetically. One of these things was a sensory ability that let Kushina feel and see chakra much more effectively than an ninja who had undergone intense training to achieve the same result.

Kushina paused, and put her hand on Rin's head. She closed her eyes and reached out with her chakra, feeling and listening. Rin's chakra was usually bright and hot, not unlike fire. But it was colder now, more subdued, and there was something lying just beneath the surface of it, something that was foreign and not entirely unfamiliar all at once.

Whatever it was, it was enormous. Kushina couldn't help but note that it was dangerous. Likely, she reasoned, it was some kind of seal. Seals could, after all, contain incredible amounts of chakra. And much like her long dead clan, she was an expert in the mostly forgotten art of sealing.

"This doesn't look good," Kushina said, opening her eyes and scanning Rin for any obvious ink markings.

"What is it?" Iwashi asked.

"Something is amiss with Rin's chakra, but I'm not sure what it is," Kushina explained. "I'd like to take a look at her, but this is a terrible place to do it."

"We can always look at her back in the village," Iwashi said. "The hospital has medics to do that."

"I don't think it's medical," explained Kushina, taking a kunai from the holster on her thigh, and slicing open Rin's shirt. "I think there's a seal on her somewhere. The feel of it is all kinds of weird, but it's like I've seen this kind of thing before."

"Can I help?" Iwashi asked.

"Either roll up her sleeves or tear them off. Tell me if you see any chakra paper or ink on her," Kushina ordered. "It's in our best interest to do this quickly."

"Right," Iwashi said.

They worked in silence, Iwashi checking her arms, while Kushina looked at Rin's torso and back.

"I don't see anything," Iwashi said when he was finished.

"Neither do I," Kushina said with a frown. "Something about this is all wrong. I just wish I knew what." She popped her neck and got to her feet. "We shouldn't stay here too much longer."

"Kakashi!" Genma said from behind her.

Kushina let out a breath she hadn't been aware she'd been holding. Kakashi was here, too. That was good news. Hopefully he was okay after this battle. She looked to see Genma and Raido about ten meters away at another tree, then she turned to Iwashi. "Iwashi, get yourself ready to carry Rin. We'll take shifts, but you're up first. Whatever you need to do to secure her. We aren't staying here any longer than is strictly necessary."

"Yes, captain," Iwashi said. He reached for his pouch and pulled out a length of cord, and began creating loops for him to slip Rin's arms and legs through.

"Oh no," Genma said when he crouched down next to Kakashi.

"Is he…?" Raido asked, from Kakashi's other side.

Kushina whirled back and saw Genma and Raido crouched beside a body. Or what was left of one, at least. She was at their side as fast as her legs could take her. When she saw Kakashi, she inhaled sharply, and it was only her years of ninja training that stopped her from crying, or reacting openly.

Kakashi's clothes were unrecognizable, leaving large patches of skin exposed. His skin was covered in cuts and bruises and even a nasty burn on his right leg. His mask was in shambles, and she saw his face for the first time. He looked so peaceful… so young.

Pakkun let out a whine, but didn't move from her shoulder.

_Don't be dead, _She thought.

"Let's go help Iwashi," Genma said quietly. Kushina barely registered Raido and Genma moving away.

She reached out with trembling fingers to feel for Kakashi's pulse. She felt nothing but the friction of her shaking fingers against the ruined material of his mask. Her blood ran cold and she felt her stomach drop. If his heartbeat was faint, she was unable to feel it.

_No, no, no, no, no…._

She tried his nose next, ripping what was left of his mask away. If he was breathing, she could not see it.

_Kakashi..._

Kushina gathered Kakashi up in her arms, cradling him to her chest, willing him to move, to breathe, anything. He was so light, so small and fragile. "You three are to follow as close behind me as you can, bring Rin. I am going to outpace you. Kakashi's not… he's not… he can't be… I have to get him to a doctor as fast as possible."

If anyone ever asked her how she managed to give orders without her voice cracking, she wouldn't have been able to give a coherent answer. Kushina would tell anyone who asked about that moment how all she could feel was dread.

"Go," Raido said. "We will follow with Rin."

And Kushina was off, faster than she could ever remember running before. It wasn't fast enough. Her legs moved and the trees sailed by as she ran, pumping chakra into her movements. It wasn't enough. She needed more. She reached down within herself, feeling for the chakra that she had spent years learning to control, and she pulled on it with more force than she had ever done before.

She fell into her seal, only barely aware of her moving, physical self.

Kushina found herself face to face with the Kyubi, the nine-tailed fox demon, defiantly facing it down from within the seal. It was, to her mind, modeled after an old shrine or castle. But the intricate writing on the gates and doors made it impossible for the fox to leave.

"Why are you here?" The fox asked with a growl.

"I need help saving someone," Kushina said.

"What do I care if that child dies?" The fox asked.

"I don't think you understand," Kushina said. "This isn't a request. I need to get Kakashi to a hospital. And the only way I can think of that will get him there alive, is with your chakra."

"You would take from me without permission?" The nine-tails asked, leering.

"I'd prefer not to, but time isn't on my side here," Kushina said.

"Well I don't feel like helping," The nine-tails said.

"We've come a long way, ya know?" Kushina said. "And I'd like to imagine that we won't hate each other forever. But I'm taking your chakra."

Kushina reached out, and took hold of the fox's chakra with her own. She tugged. Malevolent orange energy flowed from the gates of the shrine, and Kushina was engulfed by it.

When she opened her eyes, they were no longer soft violet, but crimson.

"Hold on Pakkun," Kushina said as the orange chakra flowed from her seal and surrounded them. "We're going to pick up the pace."

She rocketed forward, speed increased threefold, trees turning into green and brown blurs as she leapt through the canopy. Pakkun, she noticed, was clinging to her shoulder for dear life as she rocketed towards Konoha.

_Be alive!_

In record time, Kushina was through the gates, offering no explanation, and running into the hospital. She skidded to a halt in front of the reception desk, a trail of dust following her into the building. "I need every available doctor, nurse, janitor in the whole building!"

The receptionist looked at her, cloaked in amorphous orange chakra, holding a dying teenager in her arms, with a dog perched on her shoulder. She blinked, then really looked at Kakashi, and was on her feet. A nurse arrived fifteen seconds later with a gurney, but it felt to Kushina like a lifetime. "Hurry!" Kushina yelled. A team of doctors took him down the hall and Kushina moved to follow.

She watched in horror as the doctors began their work, talking rapidly, hands glowing with chakra as they moved him down the hall and to an operating room. A nurse blocked her from entering with ease, and Kushina was forced to watch in horror as the doors to the operating room closed, and Kakashi vanished from her sight.

"Miss, please, let us do our job," The nurse said as she reached for Kushina's arm.

"Just please help him," Kushina said, desperately.

"We are going to do everything we can," The nurse said gently. "Why don't you stop using that horrible chakra? It's scaring patients and medical staff alike."

Kushina, who hadn't even registered she was still cloaked in the chakra, blinked in confusion, looked at her shoulder, and allowed the chakra to dissipate.

"He's in good hands now," The nurse continued. "Why don't you go home and rest, and get yourself some clean clothes? You can come back for an update when you're cleaned up."

"What?" Kushina asked, feeling completely detached. She looked down at herself. Her arms, shirt, and vest were caked with blood and dirt. "Oh, right."

"Do you need someone to walk you home?" The nurse asked.

"No," Kushina said, blankly. "I'll be fine. It's not my blood. I didn't even fight."

They were standing just outside the hospital now. When had the nurse steered her to the door? "We're going to do everything in our power to help that boy," The nurse said.

"I'll be back in an hour," Kushina said. "I'll just get cleaned up and then come back and sit in the waiting area."

The nurse nodded. "Just as long as you don't interfere with his treatment."

Kushina turned and walked away, moving her arms and legs robotically. She was in shock, she realized. The same way she'd been when Minato had come back from that mission to the Kannabi Bridge. The look in his eyes that day broke her heart, and she hated that she'd likely have to see it again when he came home. She wasn't a medic by any stretch, but she hadn't felt a heartbeat. She hadn't heard Kakashi breath. Nothing.

She was a block away from the hospital when she realized that Pakkun wasn't with her anymore. When had he separated from her? Kushina looked around, but she didn't see him anywhere. She hoped that he was coping better than she was. Kushina wasn't entirely sure how summoned animals reacted when their summoners died.

The road split four ways at the next intersection, and Kushina stopped. Her shoulders shook. It wasn't until she saw the road at her feet speckled with dark spots that she realized she was crying.

When had the world gone so wrong? Kids their age shouldn't be soldiers in a war they couldn't hope to understand. She screamed at nothing in particular and stumbled to the nearest bench. She collapsed onto the seat and let her tears fall freely.

She'd pull herself together in a moment.

It took longer than one moment. Maybe closer to five or six. But when Kushina calmed down, she realized two things. First, she had entered the village unapproved and had not reported to the Hokage. Second, Rin was still out there with Genma and his team.

Then, finally, a thought that wasn't horrible floated into her mind. The doctors had taken Kakashi to the O.R., not to a morgue. He had still been alive. Kakashi wasn't dead!

There was a chance, even if it was slim, Kushina thanked all the stars in the sky for a chance. The fact that Kakashi wasn't dead yet wasn't a particularly happy thing. He could very well still die, even in the hands of the medics. Kushina hated knowing that. She hated knowing that some wounds just couldn't be healed.

Kushina arrived at the Hokage's tower, and made her way past the receptionist desk without a word. She knocked twice on the Hokage's door, and waited.

Was the Hokage even awake? It was nearly dawn. Surely the man had to sleep.

"Enter," Hiruzen called.

Kushina did so. She didn't say anything. She didn't know how to even start.

"What is the situation?" The Hokage asked.

"Bad," Kushina said before she could stop herself.

The Hokage raised an eyebrow.

"Kakashi is in the hospital - in surgery," Kushina clarified, and was unsurprised to find her voice so detached and emotionless. "I brought him here directly from the field. He might already be dead, I couldn't tell. Still warm."

Hiruzen let out a long breath. "And Rin?"

"She's being escorted back to the village by Genma, Raido, and Iwashi. She's unconscious but in better shape. Something weird with her chakra, though. Rin needs a sealing examination. I'd like to do it myself when she arrives." Kushina crossed her arms, but they were sticky with Kakashi's blood, so she dropped them back to her sides. "I don't know how far behind me they are. I used the Kyubi's chakra to get here as fast as possible, and they were just returning from another mission. It's possible they stopped to rest once they were out of harm's way."

The Hokage gave her a sympathetic look. "You need to rest and reset, Kushina, but I need to know everything you saw out there. Let's get a full debrief over with now, and then you can rest for a few hours. I'll send someone along to fetch you when Iwashi and his team arrive with Rin."

Kushina nodded, and started talking.

An hour later, Kushina stumbled out of the Hokage's tower. She considered going back to the hospital, but she was still in bloodstained mission clothes. Deciding to go home and change, Kushina leapt to the rooftops. She was home in less than a minute

She kicked off her sandals and made her way upstairs, undressing as she went. Kushina dumped the soiled clothes onto the floor unceremoniously. She fumbled with the knobs in the shower, before stepping in and letting the hot water wash away the blood and dirt from her outing. Somehow she felt dirtier now than she ever had after a kill of her own.

Carrying Kakashi's body like that had been horrible. He'd always been capable and independent. Seeing him like that made her heart break. Chances were that he'd been beyond saving before she'd left the battlefield. Try as she might, she couldn't shake the feeling of dread, nor remove the sight of Kakashi's mangled body from her mind.

They weren't her students. They weren't, technically. But she loved them all the same.

Hands braced against the front wall, she let the water run over her hair, and she didn't fight the trembling of her shoulders or the gasping of breath when the tears came.

* * *

**Rin**

* * *

In the void of unconsciousness, Rin found only suffering. It spiraled around her and drew her into its depths. She tried, in vain, to swim upwards, but the weight of her suffering was too heavy. There was no peace. Rin wasn't sure there ever had been as her ghosts and doubts shimmered in and out of her sight.

All that was left was a soul crushing fear that she could barely understand. She was sure the turtle was to blame for her flashed before her, constant, morphing, allowing her no respite. Some of them were even real.

_Kakashi impaling her with his Chidori instead of turning away. She could feel the blood coming from her mouth as she tried to apologize._

She felt the stabbing pain of the jutsu as it pierced her flesh. She felt her life bleed away. And then it was over, and happening again. And again.

Rin pushed away from the nightmares, but she could not escape the tendrils of smoke and darkness. She tried to run, but she was stuck in place. Her legs could not deliver her from the hell she was stuck in. She closed her eyes, but nothing changed.

There was something bubbling up from within her.

_Obito, crushed, broken, pleading with them to take his eye and run. Rin's tears never dried._

The scene had plagued her dreams constantly since his death. She watched it again now with a pit in her stomach. Rin tasted bile on her lips and knew that she'd forever be guilty of unforgivable weakness. Rin heaved and her bile spattered the dirt beside Obito.

And then he was being crushed under the rocks again. Rin tried to reach him, to take his place, but it was always the same.

_Her mother's body, lifeless and still in the hospital. She'd vowed to become a medic, but she couldn't do that anymore. She was a beast._

"I'm sorry!" Rin screamed to the darkness. "Mom, please, come back." She repeated the words as she had so many times before. It didn't change anything. The sickness that took her mother was deadly.

Rin knew how to save her now. The treatments, if started early, were effective. But each time she tried to explain, she felt her mother's hand go still. Again and again until there was nothing but the ache of a child growing up without her mother.

_Her father, hitting her after too many drinks. Just like it always was._

Rin knew too well, having covered up the bruises before. They didn't hurt now like she remembered. He hadn't been strong enough to hurt her for years. She knew she could pull away from him, and she tried to, just as she had in real life. His hands always seemed to reach her in this darkness.

She hated what her father had become after her mother passed. She hated him more than she'd ever hated anyone. But at the same time, her heart broke for him. Rin did not know what kind of pain he must have endured, watching the love of his life wither and die.

With each nightmare, the bubbling grew stronger. From within her the power of what she was grew more pressing, more urgent. She wanted to make it go away.

"Make it stop!" Rin screamed into the nothing.

_Minato-sensei and his fiance Kushina in a pool of their blood and tangled limbs, eyes unseeing. Rin was crying. Their funeral. Guilt. A baby screaming._

It was familiar, like something out of a lost dream. She rushed to them, trying to summon the chakra to heal them, but it was too late. She tried everything she could think of, but nothing ever worked. No amount of begging, or pleading, or chakra could stop the blood from covering her hands. Nothing could make their eyes see again.

"I want to go home!" Rin screamed. Her voice echoed in the nightmares.

_Kakashi hitting her after too many drinks, blaming her for a failed mission. She knew it was her fault._

"Stop!" She yelled. "I'll do better, I promise!" He didn't.

She endured his beatings and his blame. But she was sure this was wrong. Kakashi wouldn't hit her. He'd never hit her. The more she thought that, the more the evidence disagreed with her. His single, detached eye watching her as she shielded herself.

_Minato-sensei dismissing her from the hospital room while he wept for his dead wife. Rin hadn't been strong enough to help her during a mission._

She watched in horror as he destroyed the room, saying her name like a curse. "No!" Rin screamed. "It wasn't me!"

Minato looked up at her yell. She opened the door, and she was sitting next to him again. He was dismissing her again. She was leaving and watching as she was blamed for the death of Kushina.

The energy was at a fever pitch now, and she struggled against it, but the darkness of the nightmares forced her forward - to one horrid possibility after another.

_Her mother, abandoning her for a different daughter, a better daughter._

"Mom! Mom please!" Rin screamed. Her mother never turned away, leading the girl from her. "Mom I'm right here!"

Everywhere she turned her mother walked away from her, holding the hand of a girl who wasn't a monster. They were laughing and smiling as they walked. Rin was crying harder than ever.

_Obito, blaming her for his death, for her death._

"I know," Rin cried, trying to hug him. She was never close enough to reach him. "I got caught and we are both dying because of it. Kakashi, too." She needed Obito to understand. She was sorry. So, so sorry.

_Kushina, reminding her that she was less than dirt._

Rin bowed her head, trying not to show the hurt on her face. Kushina had always been kind to her after her home life fell apart. Kushina had been the one to help her find her own apartment when she'd earned enough money from missions to get away from her father.

_Lord Hokage, stripping her of her status as a ninja. She was an exile._

Now there was nobody left to protect her. She was alone, her teammates were dead. Her mentors hated her, and she was exiled from the village forever.

Alone.

The bubbles exploded all at once, and Rin felt that all encompassing pain in every nerve of her body once again. She screamed, and all that was black turned white.

Rin thrust into the waking world as chakra exploded from her with more force than a dam giving way to a river. She recoiled from it, but she was stuck to something.

She screamed violently. She screamed in fear and agony and desperation as chakra exploded outwards from her.

"Shit! Get her off me!"

"We can't get close, there's too much chakra!"

"It burns!"

There were voices, too many voices, from within her head and from without. She didn't know which way was up, all she felt was burning agony, and fear. Her heart would surely burst from her chest.

She needed to get free so she could get away from the chakra that was consuming her.

"Oh god, Raido!"

"We have to get her off him, his skin is burning."

She heard a scream of agony, and then she was jarred into a state of awareness as she landed on the ground, shoulders and neck first. There was a pop and she felt all the air leave her at once.

"What's happening?" One voice asked

"I don't know, but Raido needs a doctor," Said another.

"She is a doctor," The first voice said again.

"Not right now, she isn't."

"Guys, just... one of you, run to the village for help. We're barely an hour away now."

The village? She couldn't go there. She knew she couldn't go there. She had to tell someone, but she couldn't breathe. Something was stopping her from getting enough air.

_Focus_, she told herself. _You need to focus._ It was easier said than done. She felt like her whole body was about to explode, she was unable to control any of it.

And she was gasping, desperately, for breath.

Despite all that, she had to focus or else her nightmares might become reality. She picked a spot and willed her eyes to pick out a detail, fighting valiantly against her body as it shook with pain.

Above her, the canopy of the trees slowly came into focus, tinted to the wrong color by the chakra that emanated from her.

She forced herself to sit upright, noting that her ribs were broken, and her right arm didn't work right. The pain was everywhere, it was all of her. Her heartbeat hammered and threatened to release all of this chakra at once.

Finally, she caught sight of the ninja she'd heard talking. They had Leaf village headbands, which was a welcome relief, but they were on their guard. Genma, who she recognized immediately, was holding a kunai, and watching her with wary eyes. He was standing over the prone form of another ninja she could not see the face of, but it was clear even from where Rin was propped up that he was injured.

She tried to speak, but the air left her and she found herself on her back again. Curiously, she brought her hand to her chest, feeling for the reason. And there it was. She had a collapsed lung. One of her ribs must have punctured it.

She forced herself back up, doing her best to ignore the horrible pain. When she was upright and stable enough not to topple back over, she signed to Genma using Konoha standard sign language.

_Are you okay?_

His eyebrows shot up. But he nodded at her. "What's happening to you? Why can't you talk?" He asked.

_Injured. Seal. Chakra. Can't control. _Rin wished there was a more complete form of communication, but the Konoha sign language had been developed for teams to communicate silently while in the field. A lot of words were missing.

"How do we stop it?" Genma asked.

_Don't know. Hide? _Rin frowned. She didn't know the word for suppress, if there was one, in sign Language.

"Hide?" Genma asked. "You want us to hide? Are you going to lose control completely."

Rin shook her head. _Conceal,_ she signed.

Genma's eyes lit up with understanding. "We need to suppress it somehow."

Rin nodded. She grimaced, maintaining focus was so hard.

"We can do that back in the village," Genma said. "Can you control it long enough to get there?"

Terror shot through her, she shook her head frantically. With hands shaking she signed. _Compromised. Trap._

"Great," Genma said. "Just great."

Rin closed her eyes and tried to force the chakra to settle, but she had no luck. It needed to dissipate, so that someone could figure out what was happening to her. If she was cloaked in chakra like this, nobody would be able to get near her.

She followed her chakra back to the source, desperate for a solution.

The chakra was focused from her heart, and was being circulated through her system violently with every beat of her heart. _This is bad,_ Rin thought. She tried calming her chakra as it pulsed out of her, but it was like trying to drain an ocean with a bucket.

"Do you know how to make a chakra suppression seal?" Genma asked, bringing her back to the present. She saw he was holding up a blank piece of chakra paper. He had a scroll unrolled before him.

Rin shook her head. She didn't. But if she somehow lived through this, she would learn. Genma hung his head in defeat. _Sorry,_ Rin signed.

She went back to meditating and trying to get a handle on her chakra. It was exhausting work, she felt like she was burning up from the inside out.

When she imagined she could take no more pain, Rin felt the chakra falter, and fizzle, and it began to fade. She didn't know if was her doing, or if her body was unable to maintain the chakra anymore. It felt like her whole body was shutting down. As it went, the burning of her nervous system faded, and was replaced by the hurt from her broken down body. She found air harder and harder to gulp down and she looked to Genma with wide eyes.

He was at her side in a second, and he caught her before she slumped to the ground.

* * *

Author's Note: You wanna do me a huge favor and leave a review? Or maybe even follow and favorite the story. I don't know if these calls to action work or not, but I hope so. While you're at it, why not tell me who your favorite Naruto character is, and who you'd like to see them fight. Maybe it will inspire me!


	7. Rin's Capture Arc - 6

Author's Note: I'm enjoying getting these chapters out rapid-fire. I suppose it helps that they've been outlined for a while, and I can just write through my storyboard! Hope you like it. To those of you who are constantly asking about Obito: I promise you'll find out what I have planned. Please enjoy the chapter!

* * *

**Human**

**Rin's Capture Arc **

**Chapter 6**

**Kushina**

* * *

Kushina found them leaning against a tree. Raido, asleep and injured. Genma, alert, tired, but grinning at the sight of them. And Rin, slumped against him, drawing ragged breaths but her eyes were open. Behind her Iwashi and a medical team touched down.

They set about unsealing hand held stretchers and checking on the three injured Chunin.

"Genma, report," Kushina ordered.

He stood up once the medical ninja had their hands on Rin and she wasn't slumped against him. "I'm sure you've heard what happened from Iwashi," Genma said.

Kushina crossed her arms, raised an eyebrow. "I want to hear it from you."

Genma shrugged, bent down, plucked a long piece of grass, and started to chew it. "Well, once we got about ten miles from the village, Rin started convulsing and all this chakra came shooting out of her. Raido was carrying her at the time. It burned him pretty bad, like the chakra was corrosive or something."

Kushina frowned. "Corrosive chakra is usually indicative of ill intent, or chakra density. Sometimes both. What happened after Raido was hurt?"

"Well, first we had to get those carrying loops off. So Iwashi and I managed to cut them with some Kunai. Singed my hand a bit, but nothing serious. Then I pulled Raido away from Rin and sent Iwashi to the village for help." Genma looked up at the sky, now golden in the morning sunlight. "Rin was awake by then, she couldn't talk for some reason. But she communicated with me through Konoha Standard Sign Language. She seems to think that whatever is causing that chakra to come out of her is some kind of trap, and that she shouldn't go back to the village."

"She might be right," Kushina said. "I'll examine her thoroughly once the medical team has had a chance to look at her. If there's anything amiss with her chakra, I'll find it."

Genma nodded. "If that's all, I'd like to get my hand looked at."

"Go ahead," Kushina said, and approached the medics examining Rin. "How is she?"

One of the medical ninja looked up. "She's got a lot of internal damage, but it looks like something is accelerating her healing. Whatever it is closed up some of the wounds on the surface, but they're still causing problems with her organs and bones. She's got seven broken ribs, a punctured lung, a concussion, her right wrist is fractured, her left wrist has severed tendons, and her stomach and lower intestine have been pierced by something. We need to get her to a hospital for long term treatment."

Kushina shook her head. "I'm afraid that won't be possible. You have to get her fixed up here. We can set up for as long as you need, and I can send someone to the village for more supplies if you need them, but Rin cannot return to the village right now."

The ninja scowled at her. "I'm a doctor, and she needs treatment. Real treatment, not a field triage!"

Kushina glared right back. "I know! But something is off with her chakra system, and it makes her a potential danger to herself and others. We can't risk taking her back to the village in her current state. Heal her. Tell me if you need help. And let me know if you find anything out of the ordinary with her chakra pathways." She turned away and went to check on Raido.

"He'll make a full recovery, but he'll have a scar," The medic told her.

Kushina sighed. The poor kid was gonna have a nasty burn scar on his face for the rest of his life. And Kakashi was maybe alive. And Rin was... she didn't even want to believe it, but she was sure Rin was a Jinchuriki, based on reports and her own observations. The lingering chakra in the air here and at the sight of the battle were eerily similar to the Kyubi's chakra.

How could things have gone so wrong? Rin was a good kid. Nobody deserved to be made into a Jinchuriki.

Kushina sat against the base of a tree, crossed her legs, and closed her eyes. She focused on the chakra around them. Listening to it, feeling it with her own, and watching for any change in Rin's.

Upon closer inspection, Kushina discovered that a powerful foreign chakra was bubbling just below the surface of Rin's chakra. Kushina could feel it, but it was hard to distinguish beginnings and ends. It was like oil in water.

Kushina watched Rin's chakra diligently until the medics stopped tending to her.

"That's as good as can be done today in the field," one of them said.

Kushina opened her eyes and nodded. "How is she?"

The medic shrugged. "She'll make a full recovery, eventually, but it will take a long time outside of a facility where she can receive treatment and physical therapy daily."

"Thank you for doing what you could. Will she be able to walk when she wakes up?" Kushina asked.

"It's hard to say." The medic was putting away his things, and shouldering his bag. "She's suffering from one of the most severe cases of chakra exhaustion I have ever seen. It would be ideal if we could monitor her for a few days to see if her body is producing chakra correctly."

Kushina gestured to the trees. "By all means, set up a camp and stay. But Rin can't go back to the village until I figure out what's up with the foreign chakra in her system. I'd appreciate it if she gets a checkup when she wakes, anyway."

The medical team exchanged looks. "We need to get Raido back to the hospital, the buns on his face run the risk of serious damage without a skin graft. Or is he to stay here, too?"

Kushina shook her head. "No, Raido is free to head home. As are Genma and Iwashi."

"Then we should go," The medic said. "We have injured shinobi returning from missions every day as hostilities die down, and we really don't have the manpower to spread around. Our medical teams aren't as numerous as they were even five years ago. Have her come by the hospital when she gets back to the village."

"I will," Kushina said. "If you don't mind, I'd like to send a few messages back to the village with you."

"I can stay until your messages are ready," Iwashi offered.

"That's fine," Kushina said.

"Make sure Nohara doesn't use any chakra or get into any intense physical activity," The medic said.

And the medical team left with Raido and Genma. Kushina popped open a pocket of her vest, pulled out two scrolls, and tossed one to Iwashi. "Unseal and set up two tents, and then something for us to eat." Iwashi nodded.

Kushina unrolled the other scroll, and set about writing messages for both Minato and the Hokage.

When Rin finally did wake up over a day later, Iwashi was long departed. The night air was cool, and Kushina was sitting at a small fire, using the light of the flames to recreate the seal that kept the Kyubi within her on a large scroll. Her eyes flicked up from the heavy paper when Rin poked her head out from her tent.

She looked exhausted, and Kushina gave her a warm smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Everything hurts," Rin said quietly. "I feel like I've been trapped in a nightmare for a long time."

"From what I've pieced together, you've had a rough time of things," Kushina said. She patted the ground next to her. "Why don't you come sit with me and have something to eat."

Rin considered for a moment before nodding and making her way over to the fire. Kushina noticed how slow Rin moved, and the half concealed grimace on her face.

"How far are we from the village?" Rin asked, tucking her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around her shins.

"Only a few miles," Kushina said. "But you can't go right now."

Rin hung her head. "I know," She said quietly.

"It's not forever," Kushina said, trying her level best to reassure the girl.

Rin nodded glumly and let out a huff of air, staring at the firelight with a somber expression. "Who changed my clothes?" Rin asked after a few minutes, fiddling with the sleeve of her clean shirt.

"I did," Kushina said. "Your other clothes were beyond saving, and I figured you'd want something clean."

"I… thank you," Rin said.

Kushina put an arm around Rin and pulled her close. "Don't mention it. You wouldn't have gotten any rest in those old rags anyway."

Rin held strong for a second, before she sagged against Kushina and started to cry. Kushina stroked Rin's hair, and let Rin get out whatever she needed to. "What did they do to me?" Rin choked out eventually.

"Nothing good." She didn't know how to explain other than to explain as directly as possible. Pull the bandage off and work on healing the wound. "I haven't done a thorough check of your body and chakra, Rin, but I think whoever captured you sealed a tailed beast inside you," Kushina said.

Rin clutched at her and heaved another sob. "They wanted me to hurt my friends," Rin cried. "They wanted me to and I did. I killed Kakashi!"

Kushina hummed and hugged Rin. "Hush now, Rin. Kakashi's in the hospital right now, the doctors are looking after him."

"Is he okay?" Rin managed through her tears.

"I won't lie to you Rin," Kushina said. "Kakashi's in bad shape, and I don't know if he'll pull through." Rin whimpered. "But I need you to understand that this is not your fault."

"But I'm a monster now. I was the one who-" Rin started, but Kushina cut her off.

"No. What you did was go on a mission that you were assigned. You went on a mission and tried to come home with your comrade. The Mist ninja who captured you are to blame." Kushina shifted so she could look at Rin, but the girl would not raise her eyes. "Rin, look at me, please."

When Rin didn't, Kushina hooked a knuckle under her chin and brought her head up. "Rin, you are _not_ a monster. You are still you, and you can beat this thing."

"How?" Rin asked, looking to the side. "I already failed."

"If I'm right, and they did seal a tailed-beast inside you. Then you didn't fail. You're still here and the beast isn't destroying the countryside." Kushina smiled at her. "Why don't you tell me what happened?"

Rin slumped and turned away from her. "I don't want to think about it," She said quietly.

"You're going to have to, eventually," Kushina said. "But maybe not yet. Let's get some food in you, and then I'll see about finding the source of that chakra."

Kushina busied herself, setting water to boil, and then going to check the trap she'd set earlier. There was a single rabbit caught in it. While Kushina skinned and gutted the rabbit, Rin stared into the fire. She didn't move until Kushina handed her a haunch of lightly salted meat, and a steaming cup of tea.

"Eat," Kushina ordered. "You'll feel better with some food in you."

Rin took the skewer, and considered it for a few seconds, before biting into it. Kushina smiled. Rin finished her food in record time, and took a large drink from her tea. Kushina handed Rin the skewer she'd been about to eat. "Here."

Rin ate the whole rabbit. "I didn't realize I was so hungry."

Kushina laughed. "When was the last time you ate?"

Rin rubbed the back of her head, sheepishly. "I don't know. I guess it has been a few days."

Kushina smiled warmly and filled Rin's cup. "We'll have to make sure you're eating regularly from now on, so you make a full recovery."

Rin sighed. "I don't know if I ever will. I don't feel at all like I used to."

Kushina nodded. "It's a big change. But you'll overcome it."

"How do you know?" Rin asked.

"Lie down and let me have a look at you," Kushina said, dodging the question. It wasn't really her favorite thing to divulge the open secret of her status as a Jinchuriki. "I'll explain everything when I'm done."

Rin complied without resistance, and lay back in the grass, feet to the fire. Kushina pulled out a small piece of paper and placed it on Rin's forehead. "This seal is going to temporarily interrupt the flow of your chakra. It will allow me to find any inconsistencies in your chakra pathways. Whatever was done to you, I can't find with my eyes. I gave you a once over when I changed your clothes, but there's no sealing ink on your skin that can be activated by chakra. I think it's hidden somehow."

Rin nodded. "Okay," She said nervously.

Kushina activated the seal with a small flash of her own Chakra, and Rin made a sound of discomfort. Kushina felt out with her chakra sensory ability and frowned. In the absence of Rin's chakra, the foreign chakra was trying to fill the space. It seemed to be coming from Rin's chest.

She pulled back the collar of Rin's shirt and channeled chakra into her hand. Nothing appeared above Rin's breast.

"Well this is concerning," Kushina said.

"What?" Rin asked.

"Take off your shirt and sit up," Kushina said.

Rin didn't argue.

Kushina held up one hand and focused chakra into her palm until it became visible. She pushed until her hand glowed with blue light. She held her hand near Rin's skin as she examined the skin on Rin's chest, and back. She swore when she saw it.

Underneath Rin's left arm, and to the side of her breast, was a small, quickly healed cut. The seal was literally, physically inside of Rin.

"What?" Rin asked again.

"This business with your seal is going to take longer than I thought," Kushina said, extinguishing her chakra light.

"Why?" Rin asked, voice trembling.

"Because I can't interact with the seal. It's not on your skin. Whoever did this is equal parts brilliant and evil. Whatever was sealed inside you was done so directly onto your heart, lungs, or ribcage. Inside your body." Kushina put a hand on Rin's shoulder. "I'm sorry, but we won't be going back to the village for a long time."

Rin looked stricken, disturbed. Kushina couldn't blame her.

"We just have to keep you safe until I can come up with a way to move that seal off your heart," Kushina said, trying to reassure the girl as best she could. "You'll have a better time controlling that chakra if it wasn't threatening to kill you by giving you a heart attack every time you used it."

Rin looked at Kushina, searching for something. "How are you so calm about this?"

"I'm the best with seals in the whole village," Kushina said.

"You aren't afraid of me, but you should be. I could lose control again and really hurt you." Rin turned back to the fire.

"I seriously doubt you could," Kushina said. When Rin didn't respond, Kushina huffed out a breath. "You know there are nine tailed-beasts, right?"

"So?" Rin asked.

Kushina put her hand on Rin's shoulder. "Since the founding of the ninja villages, all of them have been sealed away in humans. They're known as Jinchuriki."

"So I'm a Jinchuriki now," Rin said. "I expect nobody will want anything to do with me when they find out."

"Well I know, and I don't think of you any differently," Kushina said.

"Why?" Rin asked, voice rising, desperate.

"Because it doesn't define who you are," Kushina said. "Konoha has two Jinchuriki now, and you have met the other one."

"I have?" Rin asked.

Kushina nodded, smiling at Rin. "You have."

"Who is it?" Rin asked.

Kushina pointed at herself. "I am."

"You don't have to lie to make me feel better, Kushina," Rin said, curling in on herself.

"I'm not," Kushina said. "Here, watch." And Kushina closed her eyes. Chakra slowly seeped from her, orange, dense, vicious. When she was sure it was visible, Kushina opened her eyes, and looked at Rin. Where Kushina's eyes had been purple a moment before, they were scarlet now. "Believe me?"

Rin, eyes wide and mouth agape, nodded in awe.

"We're going to stabilize your seal," Kushina said, letting the chakra fade, though her eyes were still crimson. "And then I am going to teach you how to control the chakra. You don't have to be afraid."

Rin blinked away tears, wiping at them with her sleeves. "I believe you."

Kushina hugged Rin. "I think you should probably go back to sleep. Your body needs rest." Rin nodded against her chest. They stayed like that for a moment, until Rin was ready to move, and she shuffled back to her tent.

Kushina watched her go, and once Rin was settled in her tent, she entered her mind to speak with the Kyubi.

"What do you want now?" The fox asked her.

"Can you tell me which tailed-beast is sealed within Rin?" Kushina asked.

The fox growled and slammed a claw against the gate of Kushina's seal. "What makes you think I would know?"

Kushina shrugged, leaning against a wall. "You've told me before you can see what I see if you choose to. I was sort of hoping you've been paying attention lately."

The fox laughed without mirth. "Even if I was, how should I know which was sealed into that pathetic little girl?"

"She's stronger than you think," Kushina said, glaring.

The Kyubi rolled its eyes. "I have little patience for this."

"Do you know or not?" Kushina asked.

"Yes," The fox said.

"Which is it?" Kushina asked.

"I have no reason to tell you," The Kyubi said.

Kushina considered that. "I suppose you don't. I can't give you anything in exchange for your knowledge. The only thing you've ever asked me for is freedom." Kushina gave the fox her friendliest smile. "I don't suppose you'd do it for a friend?"

The fox snarled. "Get out!"

Kushina felt her conscious mind forced out of the seal, and sighed. The fire crackled before her and she considered the problem of Rin as she stared into the flames. There was a lot of work to do, and Kushina worried they'd be away from the village for months.

Unsealing a travel ration, Kushina set about cleaning up the camp and getting ready to turn in for the night herself. Starting tomorrow, there would be a lot of work to do.

* * *

Author's Note: Drop a review? Follow and fav! I'd sure appreciate it.


	8. Whirlpool Arc - 1

Author's Note: On to arc number two! This one is all about Rin, her seal, and what remains of Uzushiogakure. I'm happy to say that the first arc was received so well, the story passed 3k hits already. Let's keep up that momentum!

* * *

**Human**

**Whirlpool Arc**

**Chapter 7**

**Rin**

* * *

Rin woke with the sun, her body still ached something fierce, but she felt lighter emotionally after her fireside talk with Kushina the night before. She stretched and found that the range of motion in her arms left a lot to be desired. If only she could heal herself, she could speed the process along, but Rin was terrified of her chakra. Every time she'd touched it since she'd been captured, it felt like her entire body had been lit aflame.

There was nothing to do but let her body slowly heal over time. Rin fiddled with her clothes, standard navy blue shinobi fatigues, and wondered where her mission pack had ended up. Likely it was still in the enemy base, or maybe with Kakashi.

She sucked in a breath when she thought of Kakashi, and blinked away at the burning sensation of her eyes. Guilt, remorse, self-loathing, and more swirled in her head. She considered going back to sleep. She could just wait until the whole thing was over and done with one way or the other. Either she'd heal and Kakashi would live, or she'd give up and wither away in this tent.

With that decided, Rin flopped back down onto the sleeping bag and covered her face with her hands. Her stomach growled and she sighed.

"Rin, are you okay?" Kushina asked from outside the tent. "I heard you rustling around in there."

"'Mfine," Rin mumbled into her hands.

"If you say so," Kushina said with a laugh. "Come on out and eat some breakfast. It's a long walk to Uzushiogakure. You're going to need your strength."

Rin sat up. "Uzushiogakure?"

"What's left of the Whirlpool village, anyway," Kushina said. "I go every year to see if there are other members of my clan still alive. This year you're coming with me, so I can keep an eye on that seal of yours."

It took Rin another five minutes to muster up the will to leave the safety of the tent, and another minute to get her feet into her sandals. When she made her way to the fire, Kushina was humming and boiling water for tea.

"How are you feeling?" Kushina asked without looking up.

"Honestly? I feel like I fell off a cliff," Rin said, collapsing into a seated position by the fire. "Everything is sore and achy."

"You'll get better with time. Or you could heal yourself once you've recuperated some chakra," Kushina said.

"No!" Rin shouted.

Kushina looked at her, eyebrow raised, but Rin didn't think she looked very surprised. "No?"

Rin shook her head. "No. I… I can't use my chakra anymore. It hurts. A lot."

Kushina nodded, as if she had confirmed a suspicion. "It's probably got a lot to do with the way that seal was put on you. The chakra in the seal is interfering with the chakra your body naturally produces, because of where it's located. The two things cannot coexist in their current state."

Rin hung her head. "What's that mean for me? For my life as a ninja?"

"It means that you're going to have to work harder than ever to stay healthy and in tip-top shape while we design a new seal," Kushina said, offering Rin a mug of tea. Rin took it gratefully and held it in both hands to stave off the morning chill.

Rin nodded. She could try, at least.

Once the tea was cool enough to drink, Rin took a large sip. She sighed in happiness, for a cup of tea made in the middle of the woods, it was very good. Kushina handed her a ration bar and an apple. "Eat. I'll pack up everything and get it sealed away. When that's done, we'll get moving."

"Okay," Rin said, glad to be free of physical chores like striking camp, and ate the apple with gusto. The ration bar she ate more slowly, but she was still finished eating five minutes before Kushina had everything put away.

"Ready?" Kushina asked. Rin gave her a thumbs up. "Then let's go."

Kushina kept their pace slow and sedate on purpose, and she allowed Rin to stop and rest whenever she lagged behind. Rin was grateful for the leisurely pace of their walk. It took them until midday to get to the main road, and once they were near enough to see the dirt path that led to and from the Leaf village, Kushina sat Rin down and forced her to eat another ration bar.

Trail rations were bland and hard to chew, but Rin ate the fare with gusto.

That night, Kushina sat Rin down at their campfire, and handed her a small book. "What's this?" Rin asked.

"You're going to be learning the basics of Fuinjutsu," Kushina said matter of factly. "It's better that you know what's happening when I start changing that seal around. That book was written by my grandfather, and it's one of the few remaining copies that survived the destruction of the Whirlpool Village."

Rin held the book delicately, reverently. "I'll take good care of it."

Kushina ruffled her hair and laughed. "I know you will. I'm going to get the tents set up. Once you've read a bit of the book, we can talk more in depth. Ask me for clarification if you have any questions."

Rin watched her go until she was no longer illuminated by firelight, and then turned her attention back to the book. _An Introduction to the Noble and Ancient Art of Sealing_, the cover read. It was a small brown, leatherbound book. A golden whirlpool was embossed on the front. The author's name was faded, but legible. Rin traced her fingers over the name. _Masakado Uzumaki_.

She knew without opening the book that Kushina was offering more than just an understanding of sealing. This was a declaration of trust and affection, too.

Rin opened the book, and read the introduction, which outlined the ideology and frame of reference that the Uzumaki clan used in their sealing art. It was entirely different than what she expected. In the Hidden Leaf, and Rin assumed the same was true in the other hidden villages, sealing was only used as a means to an end. A seal was just another tool in a ninja's arsenal.

The Uzumaki had treated sealing like a true art. It was directly compared to painting and kabuki in the text. It was _fascinating_ to think of Fuinjutsu in a way that wasn't strictly utilitarian. It was difficult to see the broader purpose, though. Wouldn't sealing be better if it was streamlined and more efficient?

Rin pondered the benefits. She had always been taught that the most efficient method of doing something was the best. Why waste time in a fight when you could take a life by slitting a throat? Her medical field training had been much the same. Heal those who would be able to return to the battlefield first.

When Kushina Returned, Rin had the book half open, bookmarked by a finger, and she was lost in thought.

"You want to talk about it?" Kushina asked her.

Rin started and nearly dropped the book into the dirt. "What? Oh, uh, not necessarily. I was just thinking about how differently this book is written. It's long winded."

Kushina nodded.

"Not that that's a bad thing!" Rin continued. "It's just that all the seals we use in the village are…"

"They're made that way on purpose. If they're simple, effective, and impossible to screw up, then everyone can use them," Kushina said. She sat down, and Rin watched her settle into a comfortable sitting position. "Real sealing isn't like that. It requires you to think outside the box. And sometimes the most direct solution is the wrong one. A real seal master has to unlearn what they have learned in the shinobi system, because it's the only ninja art that requires you not to think like a ninja."

Rin nodded, though she wasn't entirely sure she understood. Kushina snorted.

"I don't expect you to get it on the first day, Rin. Learning Fuinjutsu takes years, and nobody really ever masters it," Kushina said.

"But the author of the book is a seal master," Rin found herself saying. "And Minato-sensei, too."

"Minato is brilliant, Rin. He understands seals almost as well as I do, and he created one of the most famous techniques in the Elemental Nations with his knowledge. But he would never call himself a master of sealing. And if he did, he'd have to call me a grandmaster. Let me explain it this way: Granddad was very good at Fuinjutsu. He developed the seal that holds the Kyubi within me. Neither Minato nor myself have ever done such a thing. But he would never have called himself a master of the art. Because it's art. No artist is ever a master of their craft. That's not the way they think about it." Kushina leaned back on her hands.

"Then how does anyone learn if there are no masters?" Rin asked.

"The same way an artist learns to paint, or a dancer learns to dance. The basics are the same, no matter how you look at it. Those are easy to learn, and even without knowledge of sealing, you can practice useful things. Perfect your handwriting, study mathematics." Kushina leaned forward as if she'd just realized something, made a fist with her right hand, and tapped in into her left. "Oh! That's actually a good idea. You should work on those things. You're a medical ninja, so your handwriting is probably terrible."

"Hey!" Rin said, flushing. Her handwriting had certainly never been as pretty as the writing of other girls her age.

Kushina laughed. A full bodied laugh, with her head thrown back and eyes closed. "I'm just teasing."

Rin crossed her arms and huffed. "Trail rations for dinner?"

"Unfortunately so," Kushina said. "We walked all day, and I didn't get the chance to catch anything for us to eat. But we're not too far from a small village, and we can stop there tomorrow and see about buying some real food."

Rin nodded, and accepted the ration bar from Kushina when it was offered. Conversation turned away from sealing, and when Rin did crawl into her tent later that night, she found that she was too tired to have a nightmare.

It took them all morning to get to the village.

Rin watched in excitement as Kushina sealed rice, dried pork, and an assortment of fruits and vegetables into a scroll. They'd eaten ration bars again for breakfast, and Rin was looking forward to having real food for dinner that night.

The village they were in was more than willing to serve them food for lunch and sell them food for their travels. Kushina bartered for their fare, but Rin felt like they certainly got the better end of the bargain. Trail rations were not tasty. At all.

When they were back on the road, Kushina passed the time by springing random math questions onto Rin.

"Square root of two-hundred fifty-six?" Kushina asked.

"Uh… Sixteen?" Rin replied.

Kushina nodded. If Rin got the question right, she'd move on without a word. If Rin was wrong, Kushina would ask her to try again. "Prime number that comes after seventeen?"

"Twenty-three - no - nineteen!" Rin said.

"Internal angle of a hexagon in degrees?" Kushina asked.

Rin looked at Kushina. "Why would I know that?"

Kushina smirked. "You'll have to commit it to memory. Shapes are important in sealing."

"Well how many degrees are the angles inside of a hexagon?" Rin asked.

"One-hundred twenty," Kushina said. "Surely Minato went over Fuinjutsu fundamentals with you and your teammates."

Rin shook her head. "Not all at once. I think maybe he taught… Kakashi some when I was in medical training. And I don't know if he ever taught Obito." She hoped Kushina didn't notice her stumble over Kakashi's name.

She did. Of course. Rin was convinced that Kushina noticed everything. "He'll be up and about when we get home."

"I thought you said you didn't know if he was okay," Rin pointed out.

"Oh, I don't. I'm just being optimistic," Kushina said.

"Well I'm not so sure," Rin said. She'd really hurt Kakashi when she'd lost control of herself to the chakra that had been sealed within her.

"Of course you aren't," Kushina said. "You're too much of a downer."

Rin bristled. Kushina certainly didn't mind ribbing her. "I'm not a downer," she complained.

"Of course you are," Kushina said.

"Am not!" Rin said indignantly.

"Right. Of course not. I must have mistaken you for someone who didn't brood when she thought nobody was looking," Kushina said. "I'll just go and find Rin. Sorry to have bothered you, stranger."

Rin swatted Kushina's shoulder. "I'm not that bad." Kushina raised an eyebrow. "I'm not!"

"Rin, it took you seven minutes to put your shoes on this morning."

Rin didn't dignify that with a response.

The fell into a routine after that, traveling as far as Rin could go while injured and without chakra, and resting when Rin needed to. In the evenings, once Rin was up to it, Kushina led her through several basic katas to help her regain flexibility and strength.

Rin would read as much of _An Introduction to the Noble and Ancient Art of Sealing_ as she could at night, but Kushina seemed determined to keep her busy and worn out. She was sure it was to distract her from Kakashi, and sometimes it worked.

Kushina kept a close eye on Rin's seal, and performed in-depth checks of Rin's chakra every other day. Rin, for her part, avoided anything that even had a chance of requiring her to use chakra.

It would have been the best time of Rin's life, had the circumstances been better. Kushina was an amazing teacher, and an even better source of support and guidance for everything else. Rin loved her like she would an older sister.

A little over a week after they'd set out together, Rin found herself on the deck of a small ship that Kushina had chartered to take them to the Land of Whirlpools. It was an island off the coast of the Land of Fire.

She was sitting against the railing, trying her level best to ignore the swaying of the ship as she tried to meditate. Kushina had instructed her to do so whenever she had free time, so that she might align the two sources of chakra within herself enough to use her own chakra without causing extreme pain.

Unfortunately, it was easier said than done, as she'd had little luck over the past several days. And the rocking of the ship in the ocean water didn't help any. She tried for an hour, but eventually gave it up as a bad job.

Rin had never been on a ship before now, and meditating was a no go in the choppy water. It was impossible to sit still. Awkwardly pulling herself to her feet in the swell, Rin set off to find Kushina.

She found her temporary sensei and guardian leaning on the rail of the ship, watching the waves go by with a wistful look on her face. Rin wondered what it would be like to suddenly be the lone surviving member of a clan. What would it do to a person? Rin had lost her family, sure, but that was different than a whole clan. And Kushina had been a little girl at the time.

Was it really right for Rin to accompany Kushina on this trip?

Rin rocked on her heels for a moment, before turning away. She'd go below deck and read that sealing book instead.

"You don't have to leave on my account," Kushina said.

Rin froze mid stride. Seriously? How did Kushina _do _that?

"How did you know I was even there?" Rin asked, turning around. "I didn't make any noise."

"Chakra sensor. Remember?" Kushina said.

Oh. Right.

"I can feel your chakra no matter where you are on the ship. You can't really sneak up on me," Kushina said, finally turning away from the water to face her. "What's on your mind?"

"You don't have to worry about me, Kushina. You should focus on your trip to your home village," Rin said.

Kushina gave her a warm smile. "I've taken this trip enough times to know I shouldn't get my hopes up. Nobody will be there."

"Now who's being a pessimist?" Rin asked.

Kushina snorted. "That's fair."

"You should hope for the best," Rin said. "I think there are members of your clan out there still."

"I hope you're right, Rin." Kushina looked back out to the ocean, and to the small island on the horizon. "I hope you're right."

Rin walked over to the railing and wrapped an arm around Kushina, putting her head on the older woman's shoulder. Kushina, in turn, wrapped an arm around Rin. They watched in silence as the island slowly drew nearer.

It was bigger than Rin thought it would be. She recalled it being rather small on maps.

"Was it hard, leaving your home to come to the Hidden Leaf?" Rin asked.

Kushina didn't answer immediately, and when she did, she spoke softly, voice barely carrying over the wind. "More than anything. I was sent to the Leaf Village for the sole purpose of becoming the container of the Kyubi. It felt like being banished, ya know? And I wasn't there when the village was destroyed."

Kushina hung her head, regret plain on her face.

"I'm sorry," Rin said. Not that an apology could make it better. "I shouldn't have asked."

Kushina shook her head, and smiled sadly. "No. It's okay. I probably should accept what happened. I think talking about it will help, eventually."

Rin grinned at Kushina, and turned her gaze back to the island, content to wait in silence until they arrived. Even if she couldn't use chakra, and she was a wreck as a ninja, she could bear the weight of Kushina's loss, and help her finally put the ghosts of her past to rest.

"Hey, Rin?" Kushina asked.

"Yeah?" Rin said.

"Seventeen times three." Kushina said, a devious smirk on her face.

Rin couldn't help herself. She laughed. "Seriously, sensei?"

* * *

Author's Note: I know it's a little short, but I think this is a really good introductory chapter to the arc, and I didn't want to go any further in this chapter. Future parts of this arc are going to be longer, and we'll try to get back towards the 5k word chapter length that we hit in the first arc. No promises, though. Chapters are as long as they need to be. Dragging them out kills the flow of the story. Please follow, favorite, and drop a sweet, sweet, review.


	9. Whirlpool Arc - 2

Author's Note: Can you believe we're already this far in? I'm really enjoying all the free time I have had to write lately. My file for this story is rapidly approaching 100 pages! I'm feeling incredibly accomplished. Thanks to everyone for all the support in the reviews. Couldn't do it without you all. I think this arc will end up being a little bit shorter than the first one, but I'm not sure. I think for sure fewer chapters, but total word count is less sure.

I went back and corrected a few more hilarious typos in the first few chapters. My favorite one was "Kakashi's weapon ouch." Please feel free to point out any spelling, grammar, or syntax errors if you see them. I always end up missing something when I re-read my work. I think my brain just auto-corrects it, because I already know what it says, and I can't catch everything 100%.

Anyway, see you after the chapter.

* * *

**Human**

**Whirlpool Arc**

**Chapter 8**

**Rin**

* * *

When the ship docked, Rin could feel the tension that followed Kushina around like a cloud. She'd never seen the usually exuberant and friendly woman like this, and it was strange to see her so melancholy. Rin gathered her things, of which there were few, and hovered near the ramp that would take them to shore while Kushina thanked the captain, and handed him a small pile of money.

Kushina led Rin from the worn wood of the dock that still stood, and down an overgrown path into the wildlife of the island. "The Village Hidden Among the Eddies used to cover most of this island," Kushina said. "It's name, obviously given for the difficult to navigate whirlpools that surround the island, has not been uttered here in a long time."

Rin said nothing, but followed, sensing that Kushina was saying these things more for herself than anything. The path forked and Rin was surprised by how dense the trees were. Foliage towered above and around them, and Rin was certain she would have become hopelessly lost if not for her guide.

"We'll be staying here for at least a week," Kushina said. "I am hoping to have your seal figured out by the time we leave. And certainly by that time, you will have an adequate knowledge of Fuinjutsu." Kushina grabbed her by the arm with one hand, and made a strange seal that Rin had never seen before with the other. The world around them shimmered for a moment, and then Rin was standing in the middle of an empty street, looking at the broken and run down buildings that had once been a hidden village.

"Where did we go?" Rin asked, eyes wide, looking around, wondering suddenly why the dense forest path was so far behind them.

"We didn't go anywhere," Kushina said with a wistful smile. "Some of the seals that protect this place still function. The illusion of the overgrown paths keeps out any curious travelers that may stop on this island. Only those who know the art of sealing can see this place for what it is." And then Kushina looked at her, answering the unasked question. "This is one of the things I plan to teach you while we're here."

Rin flushed. This was Kushina's home. Or at least, it had been. It felt somehow disrespectful that she would be learning how to come here whenever she pleased. But perhaps that was the point. Kushina was trusting her with the knowledge and ability to come here, and also trusting her not to abuse the privilege. Rin certainly knew she'd never take another person here.

"Well it doesn't do us any good to stand around," Kushina said, dropping her hand from Rin's arm and instead grabbing her hand. "I'll show you around, and then we'll settle in and get to working on that seal of yours. Have you managed to align your chakra with the chakra in that seal in your chest?"

Rin shook her head and allowed herself to be pulled forward. Kushina's grip was just tight enough to be uncomfortable, but Rin didn't complain. It was obviously hard for her to share this, her history, with Rin.

"I, er, well…" Rin struggled to find the right way to explain. "I have been meditating like you said, but I haven't actually tried to use my chakra… because it hurts… so… I…" Rin looked at the ground, embarrassed, as her explanation slowly became incomprehensible mumbling.

"It's no big deal, Rin. We'll find a safe place for you to try tonight. I'll be with you, so there's nothing to be worried about." Kushina offered her a smile that made Rin feel like she was safe from the world. It was the same smile Kushina had given her when her mother had died, and again when she'd moved out of her father's house.

Rin nodded. "Thank you. For not pushing me about it. It's been hard."

"I know," Kushina said softly. "Believe me, I know how terrifying it can be to suddenly have more chakra than you know what to do with, and to have no idea how to control it in a safe way."

"Does it hurt when you use the Kyubi's chakra?" Rin asked.

Kushina shook her head. "No, it doesn't. It has never caused me physical pain to use the Kyubi's chakra. It can be harmful to others, but I think the pain you feel is caused by the seal, and not by the chakra within you. It's something we'll need to confirm before we start altering that seal." Kushina glanced at the buildings they were walking past. "Ah, first stop." Kushina pulled them to a halt, and vaguely gestured at the wreckage of a house. "This is where I lived when I was a little girl."

Rin studied the building. It was in no better shape than the other houses on this street, which was to say, much worse shape than the row of buildings that Rin had first seen when she'd been allowed inside the effects of the protective seals. "You lived there with your parents?" Rin found herself asking, looking at what remained of the roof, curiously.

"And with my older brother and sister," Kushina said, voice far away.. "They were active duty ninja when I was… selected by the village elders to take Lady Mito's place as the Kyubi Jinchuriki."

Active duty ninja likely meant they had been killed in the fighting when the village was destroyed. Rin wasn't trained as a psychologist or a psychiatrist, but the guilt that Kushina must have lived with was hard to overlook. Being the only one not in the village. Not that it was her fault, but she'd dealt with her fair share of ninja in the field after missions gone wrong during the Third Great Ninja War. Survivor's guilt was a hell of a mindfuck.

"You had a brother and a sister?" Rin asked.

"I don't remember what they looked like. I was a stupid kid and didn't take any pictures with me when I was sent to the Leaf Village," Kushina hung her head. "I've never gone inside."

Rin didn't know what to say. She could empathize, certainly, but she could never understand how it felt. "But you come here every year," Rin found herself saying before her brain could catch up to her mouth.

"I set the date every year and send the information to every village that I can in the hope that someone will show up. In the past, I've only ever come for the one day. Then it's back to the Leaf." Kushina looked at Rin, eyes dark and shining with tears that did not spill. "I'm too much of a coward to do more than that."

"Kushina-sensei, we don't have to stay here," Rin said. "We can go somewhere else."

Kushina held up a hand to stop her. "This place is the safest. It's not just for your own protection, Rin. If we mess up and accidentally release a tailed beast, it's best that nobody else is around. The village is still well hidden. It has to be here."

Rin swallowed, suddenly feeling very small. At least Kushina had a contingency plan for failure. Rin had done little more than accept death when Kakashi had rescued her. This was better. Optimism tempered by realism.

"Shall we move on?" Kushina asked, dragging Rin away from the house.

Rin didn't protest, understanding Kushina's need to be away from the house. Why did she tell me all that? Rin wondered. Was it just something that Kushina needed to get off her chest? Was it a request for Rin to enter the house? She didn't think it was that, but it was impossible to know for sure.

They turned up another street, and stopped in front of the burned out husk of a building. The whole thing was little more than charred wood and ash. "This was our library. Generations of knowledge about sealing, countless other shinobi arts, history, art, fiction… all of it gone," Kushina said.

Rin's eyes scanned the wreckage. Nothing could have possibly survived. "That's so sad," Rin said.

Kushina sniffled. "Yeah…" She said thickly.

"Why are you showing me all this," Rin asked, taking a step towards the building and turning to face her mentor. "It's obviously hard for you. And while I appreciate it, I don't want you to have to reopen old wounds for me."

Kushina considered Rin for a long moment. "How many streets have you walked on?" She asked.

Rin opened her mouth in disbelief. "What?" She asked, stupidly.

"How many streets have we walked down?" Kushina repeated.

"What does that have to do with-?" Rin started.

"Answer the question," Kushina interrupted.

"Four," Rin said in exasperation.

"Right," Kushina said. "And I've shown you a landmark on every other street. There are seals still left untriggered from the battle that took place here. The path we've walked is the one I know is safe. The rest of this place is potentially fatal." Kushina shrugged. "Minato came with me the first time. We made sure it was safe to walk from the shore to the town square and back. That's why I'm showing you. So you'll be safe if you wander around."

Well, now Rin felt stupid. And like a bitch. "You didn't have to answer all my questions if you didn't want to."

Kushina gave her a look that Rin didn't know what to do with, and then Rin found herself wrapped in a hug. "I know I didn't have to. But I'm not really good at hiding things from people I care about. Makes life too hard, ya know?"

Rin nodded into Kushina's vest. Her eyes were suddenly blurry with tears. "Thank you for trusting me with this."

"You're a good kid," Kushina said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

They stayed like that for a moment, more for Kushina's sake than Rin's. When they did break apart, Kushina said, "Come on. There's one more landmark and then I'll show you where we'll be staying."

"Right," Rin said.

The final landmark was the administrative building, which was a blown out husk, too, but was structurally sound. It looked more abandoned than destroyed. Kushina eyed the building with longing and reverence. She would have taken missions from here, Rin realized.

This time, they were silent, and Rin allowed herself to be led away when Kushina was ready.

They set up camp in a house that was almost entirely intact, save for the broken glass of the windows. One of the rooms had no windows, and Kushina and Rin were able to drag some old mattresses that were in decent shape from a house next door into their temporary lodgings. Kushina unsealed some field blankets to cover the mattresses, and then unsealed their sleeping bags to lay on top of those.

It wasn't perfect, or even particularly comfortable by the standards of a warm bed back home, but it was better than the ground.

After their sleeping area was prepped, Kushina sat down with Rin, each of them on a mattress. "We should lay out a schedule. I want you studying Fuinjutsu and working on those katas to help regain your strength as often as possible. And we need to set time aside for me to try and help you with your chakra, and to try and fix or move your seal." Kushina considered for a moment, before crossing her arms. "Katas first thing in the morning, and before bed. Seal studies after your katas in the morning, until lunch. Then we'll meditate, and you'll be free to rest for an hour or two when we're done. I'll monitor your seal, and in a few days, we'll see if we can make it easier for you to use chakra." She smiled at Rin. "We'll throw in some kenjutsu training, or elemental jutsu to keep things interesting."

"My chakra nature is fire," Rin said.

"Well it was," Kushina said ponderously. "You might have two chakra natures now, or a different one entirely. Sealing tailed-beasts into people can change their chakra. Of course it's entirely possible that your chakra nature hasn't changed at all."

Rin considered that, wondering if she'd have power over water or something equally strange because of the turtle. If the turtle was what was sealed within her, and not just a manifestation of whatever had occurred on that mission.

She supposed she'd find out.

"Do you know which tailed-beast is sealed inside me?" Rin asked.

"I'm sorry, I don't. The Kyubi wasn't any help, either." Kushina said.

"You can talk to it!?" Rin found herself asking.

"Well of course. From what I know, all Jinchuriki are able to interact with their tailed-beasts. It's just a matter of finding a way to coexist. It's nearly impossible to have a copacetic relationship with a tailed-beast. In my experience, they are proud, quick to anger, and resentful of humans for imprisoning them," Kushina said.

"Well that makes sense," Rin said. "I would be angry, too, if I was trapped inside a seal forever."

"Tailed-beasts are dangerous. They were sealed away to keep people safe," Kushina said matter-of-factly.

"Still…" Rin said. Curse her bleeding heart. She hated when anything was miserable. "How do we find out which one I have?" Rin asked, steering the conversation back on track, and away from a philosophical debate.

"Have you tried talking to it?" Kushina asked.

"I… maybe?" Rin said. "I remember talking to a really big turtle when I passed out after - after killing all those Mist Ninja."

"A turtle, huh?" Kushina said. "It could be the Three-tailed beast. It's supposed to be a turtle with three tails. Did it have three tails?"

"It did," Rin said. "I don't think it liked me."

Kushina snorted. "Why would it?"

"I want it to?" Rin said, waving a hand as if that explained everything. It made sense in her head. "I want us to get along if we're stuck with each other. Or can you take it out of me?"

Kushina shook her head. "I can't. And even if I could, I wouldn't. The process of removing a beast from it's container has always been lethal. You'd die."

Well, that sucks. Rin hung her head, heaved a sigh, and rubbed her temples. A solution to her predicament was not forthcoming.

"Shall we get started on trying to use my chakra, then?" Rin asked. "You said we'd try that tonight."

Kushina nodded. "We can if you want. Or we can eat first."

"I'd rather do it now, if that's okay. If this goes bad, the pain will make me throw up anyway. I'll eat after," Rin said.

"Okay," Kushina said, getting to her feet. "Let's do this in the living room."

Rin followed.

Kushina sat Rin down and had her begin with meditation. For a full hour they sat in silence, Rin trying to align the chakras within her. "Feel your chakra. Know it as only you can," Kushina said. Rin, with her eyes closed, felt for the flowing river of energy within her. It was warm, familiar, safe. "Let it flow freely," Kushina instructed. "It is yours. It is safe."

Rin reached for her chakra, and felt her heart rate quicken. She grimaced. No. I can do this. I can control it.

"Deep breaths, Rin," Kushina said. "Go slow, take your time. Just gather the chakra in your stomach, where it's easiest."

Rin did so, her body trembled, it was like liquid fire. It was uncomfortable, but it didn't hurt like before. She could feel the sweat forming on her brow. She sucked in a pained breath. Her pulse was racing. "I can't-" Rin started to say, but Kushina interrupted her.

"You can. You must."

Rin nodded, breathing shaky, but continued to mould her chakra in her stomach. She was covered in sweat a minute later, and the pain was building. I can do this, Rin thought.

"You're doing well, Rin," Kushina said. Rin could hear her moving around the room, but she didn't dare to open her eyes and give up her concentration. "Don't allow the chakra from your tailed-beast to interfere. Keep them separate."

It was a lot easier said than done. Rin could barely contain her own chakra in a small quantity. The tailed-beast chakra pulsed through her, battering against her control, making her heart race, her temperature rise, and her veins burn. She held the chakra in her stomach for thirty more seconds, and then the dam broke, and she saw white.

The scream that was ripped from her throat barely registered as she convulsed and lost control of her chakra. It hurt.

But just as fast as it came, it was gone. Rin blinked. She was in the living room of the house in the Whirlpool Village again. She was panting, drenched in sweat, and exhausted, but she was there. It didn't hurt.

She tried to move, but found she couldn't. Rin frowned, and tore her eyes away from the ceiling. She was wrapped in glowing, golden chains that were coming out of Kushina's sides and back.

"How are you holding up?" Kushina asked.

"I'm okay," Rin said, voice hoarse. "What is this?"

"Chakra chains. An Uzumaki bloodline ability. It was rare, even when there were many of us. The chains are powerful, and can contain and suppress chakra. It was one of the reasons I was chosen to host the Kyubi," Kushina said. "I wrapped you up the moment your control slipped."

"Thank you," Rin said.

"That's why I'm here, Rin. To keep you safe and healthy. Plus, you did well." Kushina retracted the chains, and Rin took the opportunity to unstick her hair from her face.

"I don't feel like I did," Rin said. "I could barely touch any of my chakra at all, and it was so difficult." She watched in wonder as the chains slowly sunk back into Kushina's body.

"I wasn't expecting you to manage it at all, from the way you talked about your chakra hurting you. This was good. I think I understand what the seal is doing to you." Kushina sat down beside Rin, who was still laying on her back.

"How can you understand from just that?" Rin asked.

"Well, a seal that contains a tailed-beast has to be designed a certain way. There are certain elements that have to be there, ya know? Which means that I can use that as a starting point. And judging by the way the seal affects you, we can conclude that it has a trigger. The seal wants to give way to the chakra of the beast, which would overwhelm you and force the beast free. It explains why the chakra hurts you so much," Kushina said.

"It does," Rin said, blinking. She didn't follow at all.

"Yeah!" Kushina said excitedly. "Since the seal is on your heart, it leaks chakra whenever you touch yours. Since the chakra circulatory system works much like the cardiovascular system, you are literally pulling the chakra of the beast to every one of your chakra points when you use chakra. It's clever, devious, and cruel, but also effective."

"I'm doomed," Rin said.

Kushina poked Rin's nose, but nodded. "The way the seal is now, you'll never be able to use your chakra safely without running the risk of breaking the seal and releasing the Sanbi."

"So my career is over?" Rin asked. "For good?"

"Did I say that?" Kushina asked.

Rin shook her head.

"We need to pull the chakra out of that seal and into another, more stable seal that is safe for you to have," Kushina said. "The seal on your heart needs to be removed entirely."

"But you said removing the beast from a seal would kill the host!" Rin shouted in fear.

"I know I did. That's why we have to move the beast without it ever leaving your body," Kushina said.

"How are we going to do that?" Rin asked.

"I have no earthly idea," Kushina said cheerfully.

Rin closed her eyes. She was going to die, she just knew it. She wasn't meant to survive with this monster inside of her. She didn't want to die. It wasn't fair.

It wasn't fair! She felt bitterness roil in her stomach, and choked on the air she breathed.

When the tears came, Rin didn't fight them. Nor did she protest when Kushina pulled her into her lap, and cooed softly to her. Instead, Rin snuggled into Kushina's warmth while she sobbed, hoping and trusting that Kushina would figure something out, because Rin wanted to go home, she wanted to see Kakashi again and apologize for hurting him. She wanted to see her friends Kurenai and Anko. She wanted to keep studying medicine, and keep training to be a ninja.

Rin let all her frustrations out, gripping Kushina's shirt desperately.

"It will all work out, Rin. That's a promise. I can fix it. I can fix it." Kushina's voice was gentle, and Rin thought distantly that she'd make a good mom. She certainly made an excellent older sister. Everything about Kushina was warm and welcoming. Rin really believed that Kushina could fix it, but she was still frustrated and terrified.

When she could cry no more, Rin sat up and rolled off of Kushina's lap, rubbing at her puffy, swollen eyes. "Sorry," Rin said quietly, feeling embarrassed at breaking down in front of Kushina.

"No harm done, Rin," Kushina said with a warm smile, and rose from the floor. She brushed the dust from her pants and stretched. "I'll be back with dinner in a little while, take as much time as you need to work through it, Rin. There's nothing to be ashamed of. We're here to get you back in shape, and I'll be in the other room if you need me."

While Kushina busied herself preparing dinner for them, Rin collected herself. I need to get myself together. I can't be crying and giving up when I need to be learning how to control this. But if she couldn't control it, or if Kushina couldn't fix it… Rin felt her lip tremble with worry. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Curled in on herself she felt safe. If she wasn't exposed to the world, then she couldn't be hurt, right?

She rocked herself back and forth and stared at the wall, not really looking at it. Her mind raced with negative possibilities. In the absence of Kushina's comfort and warmth, Rin felt herself spiraling into panic and darkness.

She tried to steady herself with dee, measured breaths, but it wasn't nearly as effective as she wanted to me.

Rin wondered if this was her punishment for being captured on the mission that had claimed Obito's life. The universe surely was punishing her for being weak, for being unable to keep Obito safe. The universe was punishing her for hurting Kakashi.

Rin felt so pathetic. So useless.

She put her forehead on her knees and squeezed herself tighter. Maybe if she pretended she didn't exist for a little while, she'd calm down.

"Everything okay, Rin?" Kushina reappeared with a steaming cup of soup, interrupting Rin's self-destructive line of thinking. Rin raised her head, blinked, and accepted the cup. The warmth of the soup spread through her hands immediately, and she inhaled the warm smell of the steaming food. She blew on it.

Kushina sat beside her, offering companionship and support. Rin was grateful for it. When she wasn't alone, her traitorous thoughts seemed so much farther away. It had become so, so easy to doubt yourself.

The change in her moods couldn't possibly be healthy, Rin knew, but she was not at all prepared to face the reality of her mental state. It could wait until her body was healed, couldn't it?

She needed to get control of this thing. Nothing would work out otherwise.

When she finished her soup, she placed the cup down beside her and looked at Kushina, trying her best to sound collected and confident. "Can we try again?"

Kushina studied her face for a moment, but nodded. "If you're ready. We can always wait until tomorrow if-"

"No!" Rin said, maybe a little too loudly. "No. I want to try again now." Her voice cracked.

"Rin…" Kushina said.

"I'm terrified. But I don't want to be. I want to beat this thing." Rin looked at the floor, tracing the lines with her eyes while she tried to stay strong. "I want to do this."

"Okay," Kushina said. "You're right. I won't try to stop you. I'll just be here to keep you safe, and to study your seal. In fact, do it without a shirt on, so we can monitor if the seal manifests itself visibly on your skin when you use chakra."

Rin grinned at her, and removed her shirt. Kushina could fix anything, if given enough time and ink. Minato-sensei had said that once.

Rin moved back to her meditating position, legs crossed, fists together, and closed her eyes. She focused on her breath. In. Out.

She focused on the way her chakra naturally flowed throughout her body. She breathed in.

She focused on the beating of her heart. She breathed out.

I can do this, Rin told herself.

Again, she moulded the smallest amount of her chakra and held it in her stomach. She grunted when the chakra from her seal started to leak into her system. She forced her breath to stay steady and even. It hurt, but she was in control. It hurt.

A ninja could push through the pain. She could push through the pain.

She held the chakra for five minutes, then ten. She channeled more of her chakra into her stomach. Her pulse was racing. Her skin was on fire. She held the chakra in place, and pushed back against the chakra coming from the seal.

It wavered for a moment, before pushing back. Rin's control slipped and everything went white with pain.

Before she could scream, Kushina had her wrapped up in chakra chains, and Rin was panting for breath, completely spent.

"You held it longer than last time," Kushina said. "But what happened? Last time you slowly lost control. This time it looked like your control snapped."

"I…" Rin gasped for breath. "I tried to use my chakra to force the chakra to go back into the seal." She wiped the sweat from her face. "The three-tails didn't like that. It pushed chakra pulled back and then smashed away all my control."

Kushina unraveled the chains, and knelt beside Rin, who was content to just lay on the floor forever. Fighting against a tailed-beast that was trying to kill you from the inside out was exhausting. Kushina's hands were on her. Kushina felt her forehead, checked her pulse, and then started poking around where her seal was.

"Find anything?" Rin asked, face twitching when Kushina's fingers found a particularly ticklish spot on her ribcage.

"Nothing visible when you were meditating," Kushina said with a frown. "But I think I have an idea."

Rin blinked. "Already?" That was fast. Kushina hadn't had even the makings of a plan the last time Rin had tried to control her chakra.

"Well it's just an idea. And it's dangerous," Kushina said. "But yes, I already have an idea." She shot Rin a smile and a wink. "Let's get you in bed. I need to draw out some seals to see if what I'm thinking about is even possible, and you look exhausted."

Rin nodded, but didn't move. "The floor's fine."

Kushina laughed. "No. You're going to sleep in those beds we set up. You've been sleeping on the ground for long enough. A real night of rest is what you need."

Rin was hauled unceremoniously to her feet, and found that her legs were very wobbly. She almost fell over, but Kushina steadied her, and guided her to bed. She struggled into her sleeping bag, and was asleep before Kushina left the room.

* * *

Author's Note: Tell me your thoughts? I think that feedback really keeps the motivation up, even though I'd be able to write without it, ya know? I'm hoping to have the Whirlpool Arc finished before the end of October 2020. If my schedule remains the same as it is now, I think it's possible. And that would likely put the story over 50k words! For those of you who do read these, and who do leave comments, which of my other fics should I update next? I have chapters started for all of them, but I've been laser focused on this lately. I'd love to hear what everyone thinks about that, and of course about this story!


	10. Whirlpool Arc - 3

Author's Note: I am back! Just over a week between updates is a pretty good turnaround on a chapter that clocks in at a little over 5k words. We're also popping off in hits, closing in on 4k. I'd love to pass up 100 follows and favorites in the next chapter or two. Can we do it? I want to believe we can, but I'm going to need your support!

* * *

**Human**

**Whirlpool Arc**

**Chapter 9**

**Rin**

* * *

Despite sleeping for eighteen straight hours, Rin was tired. The strain on her body from the previous day's attempts at controlling chakra had left her completely spent. She stumbled into the front room of the hold house as the sun was setting. "Wasn't it nighttime when I went to bed?" Rin asked, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

Kushina looked up from a small pile of notes, scratched her nose with a pen, and nodded. "You needed to recuperate your chakra. Your body and chakra system are nowhere near recovered from your last mission. Honestly we probably shouldn't have pushed it so hard yesterday."

Rin considered that, but nodded. "I feel like shit."

Kushina laughed. Rin waited for her to finish, but arranged her expression to convey that she did not find it funny at all.

"Is there food?" Rin asked, when Kushina had settled down.

"There's a whole mess of ration bars," Kushina said. "But I think you'll enjoy the ducks I caught earlier a lot more."

Rin nodded, thankful for the real food, and allowed herself to be led to the kitchen. Kushina had done an amazing job patching up the house, cleaning out the old dust, and making it mostly inhabitable. On the table were the field utensils and plates, holding a rather delicious looking pair of birds that were plucked, gutted, and cooked. Rin's stomach growled.

She practically threw herself into a chair, tearing a leg off and biting into it ravenously. "Please remember to breathe while you eat," Kushina said as she sat down and took a much more reasonable approach to the meal. Rin grinned sheepishly, mouth full, but did not slow down. How was she so hungry?

After... Dinner? Breakfast? After they ate, Kushina cleared off the table, and they took the bones outside to dispose of. Kushina showed Rin the way to a small creek, where they could safely wash their dishes. "About fifteen minutes walk upstream there's a pond you can bathe in," Kushina said. Kushina put their dishes down, pulled a scroll from her pocket, and unsealed a bag. Rin eyed it curiously, but Kushina shooed her away.

Rin left Kushina with the dishes, and wandered up the stream. The water got deeper after she clambered up a small waterfall about as tall as she was, and Rin found the pond a few moments later. The water was swirling slowly, because of course it was, and Rin was surprised that it wasn't as cold as she expected it to be.

She sat on a large rock at the edge of the pond, removed her sandals, and dangled her feet in the water. Rin opened the bag next, and found soap, shampoo, conditioner, a towel and a change of clothes waiting for her. She smiled. Kushina really did think of everything.

Putting the bag on the rock beside her, Rin found herself looking at the now emerging stars. She wondered if Kakashi was recovering, if he was even still alive. The thought that he could be dead at her hands made her feel sick, and she fought the all-consuming guilt that had so often accompanied thoughts of Kakashi since she'd set off with Kushina.

Wasn't it supposed to get easier to deal with? That was what Kushina had told her. But despite the week that had passed, Rin still felt as emotionally raw and devastated as ever. Perhaps it was too optimistic of her to be feeling any better so quickly, but she wanted to be able to function without the presence of someone to distract her.

Rin sniffled, and wiped her eyes. Bathe. She needed to bathe. She could mope later.

Forty minutes later, Rin was returning to the house, clean, and feeling at least able to focus.

"Still feel like shit?" Kushina teased when she stepped into the house. Rin grunted noncommittally and offered a 'so-so' gesture with the hand that was not carrying the toiletries bag. Kushina chuckled and rolled her eyes. "When you're up to it, I want to talk you through what I have in mind for your seal."

Rin nodded, put the bag in the bedroom, and returned to the table where Kushina was sitting. "Now's good."

Kushina nodded and took her outside. Around the side of the house, Kushina had constructed a sort of blackboard on the wall, but she couldn't make it out in the dark. As if reading her mind, Kushina walked around the area in a circle, and activated several seals that began to emit light, until it was like being in the Konoha stadium at night.

Rin looked at the wall and gaped.

Kushina had drawn what looked like scribbles all over the wall in charcoal. It was a joke. It had to be a joke.

"Okay," Kushina said. "This is my complete first draft of the seal. I've been tweaking my notes since you fell asleep, and I drew this out while you were getting cleaned up. It's easier to digest when it's bigger, I think. I don't know if you'd be able to follow along if we were looking at the version I drew in a scroll."

Rin looked at Kushina. "Oh don't worry about me following along. I definitely won't."

Kushina ruffled her hair fondly. "I think you'll do just fine."

Rin silently agreed to disagree. Sealing was complicated.

Kushina picked up a stick that had one end covered in soot. "I started with my seal," Kushina pointed at a strange spiral like set of markings with her stick. "My seal contains the nine-tailed fox, and allows me to use my chakra or the fox's chakra without harming myself."

Rin nodded, that was pretty straightforward. Not that she would have been able to figure that out on her own. But it was still easy enough to follow along.

"Your seal doesn't let you use either your chakra, or the beast's chakra safely," Kushina continued. "What I want to do is move all of the Sanbi's chakra into a seal identical to my own."

"That sounds good," Rin said, tilting her head and trying to figure out what any of the other scribbles were supposed to represent.

"Indeed it does," Kushina agreed. "But it leaves us with our first problem. We can't unseal your beast and reseal it without killing you outright. So we need a workaround." Kushina tapped another drawing, one that sort of looked like the eight gates if she had to describe it. "I have been working on a massive chakra sink of a seal that we can anchor to an existing seal."

"Anchor?" Rin asked, looking away from the drawing.

"Basically connecting one seal to the foci of the other. In your case, we'll be trying to connect to the chakra distribution pathway above your heart, so that you can transfer chakra from the Sanbi to the new seal." Kushina smiled at her.

"But you said that would kill me!" Rin said.

"Well that's just the thing. Unsealing the beast and resealing it is the only way to move it." Kushina held up a hand to forestall Rin's oncoming panic attack. "Tailed-beasts regenerate any chakra they expend just like we do. So my idea is for you to transfer enough of the chakra from the Sanbi into this seal," Kushina tapped the second seal she'd sketched again. "And for us to trick your body into thinking it wasn't losing its new source of chakra."

Rin didn't follow anymore.

Kushina ploughed forward. "We can unseal a tailed beast directly from one seal to the other without it actually manifesting physically, but we cannot transfer it from one seal on your body to another directly. There has to be a stage where the Sanbi is sealed in something outside of your body. If you can output enough chakra into the temporary seal to keep yourself alive for a few minutes without the three-tails, then I can move it to a safer seal that will allow you to use your chakra again safely."

Rin rubbed her eyes and blinked, looking from the scribbles to Kushina and back with a completely dazed look on her face. "This sounds really dangerous."

Kushina put a hand on her shoulder. "It is. But it's either this, or you retire to civilian life somewhere outside of the village."

Rin hung her head. "What are the chances this actually works?"

"With just the two of us? I'd give you sixty-forty odds to make it through. If Minato gets my note and arrives with Jiraiya or a team from the sealing corps, your chances are very good," Kushina said.

"Can we wait for that?" Rin asked hopefully.

Kushina pursed her lips. "We can, Rin. But we might be here for a long time. Months, potentially."

Rin nodded. "I'd like to make it through with more than a sixty percent chance of survival."

"Then we'll wait," Kushina agreed.

Rin turned back to the markings. "So we have this seal." She pointed to the one that Kushina said was her Kyubi seal. "You're going to draw one of these on me?" Rin asked, and Kushina nodded. "But only after I am able to channel chakra from my current seal into this one?" Rin pointed to the next seal. Kushina nodded again, and Rin found herself moving onto the next one. "What's this?" It looked like a… well Rin didn't know what it looked like. But it was easily the largest seal.

"That's the seal that will temporarily hold the Sanbi in an inanimate object," Kushina said.

"Why is it so much… more?" Rin asked, tracing the lines with her fingers.

"Why do you think?" Kushina asked.

Rin considered it. It was no more intricate than the other seals, but it was massive in comparison. But the longer she looked at it, the more she saw similarities to the human cardiovascular and chakra networks. Not the shape, but the clusters of simulated tenketsu and arteries. "It's because the human body isn't there to pick up the slack," Rin said. "The seal has to be able to store and circulate chakra like the human body."

"Very good, Rin," Kushina said.

"How is that even possible?" Rin asked incredulously.

"A lot of chakra theory, a bunch of Fuinjutsu intuition, a small amount of anatomical knowledge, and some testing to make sure it works," Kushina said.

"Testing?" Rin asked.

"I'm going to do a small scale experiment with my own tailed-beast chakra before we do the real thing with you," Kushina said.

"But you said it was dangerous! That it's potentially fatal!" Rin turned to Kushina, determined to stop her.

Kushina waved away her concern. "I am not going to unseal the Kyubi, Rin. I just want to make sure this seal will be able to hold a significant amount of chakra without overloading or breaking down in some way."

"But…" Rin said.

Kushina shook her head. "I can go over the theory a thousand times, Rin. But the truth is, nobody has ever tried this before. I want to make sure you're going to be safe."

Sensing she couldn't win the argument if she wanted to, Rin dropped the issue, and allowed Kushina to talk her through the seals in more detail, and then again they went step-by-step through her plan to relocate the Sanbi.

Despite the danger, Rin knew that it was a _good_ plan. The first step for Rin was to be able to differentiate her own chakra from the Sanbi's when moulding chakra. Not an easy task, but Rin was glad of the chance to _do _something. To be proactive, instead of being swept up like a leaf in a river.

They returned to the house shortly after, and Kushina retired for the night. Rin, who had only been awake for a few hours, decided to read her sealing book in the kitchen. It was hard to concentrate with her mind analyzing the discussion of the sealing procedure. She closed the book with a sigh, and got to her feet, stretching her arms above her head.

Deciding to let her mind wander, Rin took to the streets of the once revered ninja village, and followed the path that Kushina had shown her. She wandered the streets listlessly, trying to calm her fraying nerves at the thought of extracting and relocating a tailed-beast in a potentially deadly sealing experiment.

She slowed to a stop in front of what remained of Kushina's childhood home. A strong sense of curiosity overcame her, and she stepped up to the doorframe. Rin hesitated. She wanted to go inside, really she did. She wanted to find something of Kushina's past, to return it to her, but Rin knew it would be a gross violation of trust.

Rin lingered, looking into the shadows of the house from the entryway. She took a deep breath, and stepped across the threshold. The old wood creaked beneath her feet as she stepped inside.

It was dark, save for the little moonlight that filtered in through the holes in the roof. It was enough for a ninja to navigate by.

There was little left in the way of furniture. What had likely once been tables or chairs was now little more than splintered and rotted wood. Rin tried to imagine the home with the lights on, the furniture intact, and with Kushina's family inside. Three children, running down the hall, laughing as they played a game, their parents sharing an exasperated look.

But in the dark of night and among the ruins of the home, Rin could do little but imagine ghosts.

Equally curious and somber, Rin explored the kitchen, opening up the old rickety cabinets that were still mostly in one piece. She ran her fingers across the old, cracked dishes and the rusted cutlery. There was an old cracked mixing bowl among the remains of what had once been a small kitchen table.

She found her way down the hall, cracked picture frames and photographs that had faded with age and exposure littered the floor. The bedrooms were thick with dust and cobwebs, and Rin found her hair sticking up when she went into the first one. It felt like she was being watched by someone.

She poked her head back into the hallway, but saw nothing. Nervous, Rin noticed for the first time just how loud her breathing was, and how much noise she made just by walking around. A creak echoed from farther down the hall. Rin gripped the doorframe. "Hello?" Rin asked the darkness.

_Stupid_, Rin told herself. She'd just given away her position. But there wasn't supposed to be anyone here. Maybe it was an animal?

"Kushina?" Rin asked.

Something thumped from another room, and Rin nearly jumped out of her skin. Deciding that her poking around could wait until there was daylight, Rin dashed for the exit. She slid to a halt in the hallway and stood stock still when she saw what looked like the silhouette of a person at the front door.

Rin held her breath. There was more banging from behind her. The floorboards creaked, Rin turned her head and peered down the hallway in the dark. There was nothing. She whipped her head back towards the door, and the silhouette was gone. She crept forward, looking for any sign of who had been there, but she found nothing.

She waited at the porch, looking, listening. It bore no further information.

She eventually backed away and walked back to the house they were staying in. That had been close, too close. Something about the Whirlpool village suddenly felt very wrong to Rin. She decided that she'd only nose around during the day until she had her chakra back. Once in the house, she sat back down at the table in front of her book, and vowed not to stray towards Kushina's childhood home again. She wasn't a superstitious person, but that house was most definitely haunted.

What made it all the more terrifying was that Rin could not ever tell Kushina. The horrors of the last hour were Rin's burden to bear.

Rin found herself drifting off a few hours later, it was clear her body needed more rest, and she wasn't willing to fight it. She slid into her sleeping bag, and waited for sleep to come. When it did, she rested fitfully, her dreams plagued by the feeling of being watched and the outline of a person in the darkness.

The next several days found Rin and Kushina falling into a routine, and Rin did her best to hide the fact that she wasn't sleeping particularly well, but she suspected that Kushina was aware. Thankfully, the older woman never brought it up.

They would wake up, eat breakfast, and then Kushina would lead Rin through kata that Rin was unfamiliar with. When asked about it, Kushina explained that the kata were the basic practice forms for the style of Taijutsu that she'd learned as a young girl. "The style is fluid, like water in a whirlpool, redirecting and controlling the ebb and flow of combat," Kushina had said. "The form of my family's martial art is ideal for your rehabilitation because it will force you to move in unfamiliar ways. The kata for the Academy Basic Taijutsu would be far less effective."

After their morning exercise, Kushina would begin experimenting with her seal, and Rin would read, or be given basic sealing work to do. She'd made a storage scroll, she learned to create explosive tags, and while the process was slow going, Rin found herself enjoying it. She just wished she could use her chakra to actually see if they worked.

They would break for lunch, and then Kushina would supervise Rin while she tried to use her chakra. It was dreadfully slow and exhausting work, but Kushina insisted that it was the most important part of their day, and that Rin would have to be able to learn to channel the Sanbi's chakra separately from her own if their plan was to succeed.

So, they worked at it. Day after day after day.

As Rin slowly regained control of her chakra system, she found her physical condition improving. Kushina eventually moved on from the first and mosaic basic kata, and started teaching Rin the kicks, punches, and blocks of the Whirling Palms style.

Rin had never been one for Taijutsu, but the more fluid and defensive fighting style was easier for her to grasp than the rather aggressive and direct fighting styles that were common in the Leaf Village. Or it was because she was older now, and more focused. Either way, she found the exercise invigorating and worthwhile.

On the fifth day of rigorous training, Rin managed to separate the Sanbi's chakra from her own. The result was that Rin immediately lost control of both streams of chakra and was once again brought back to that white void of excruciating pain.

"What happened there, Rin?" Kushina asked her as her chakra chains slowly unwrapped the girl.

"I… had it…" Rin panted. "But my concentration slipped. Keeping them separated is _hard_."

"I'll bet. I had a hard enough time learning to utilize the Kyubi's chakra alongside my own, and my seal is actually designed to help me, not hinder me." Kushina offered Rin a hand, and helped her to her feet. "You're making remarkable progress, Rin. You should be proud of yourself."

Rin heaved a tired sigh. "It doesn't feel like I am. I haven't been able to use my chakra for real in weeks. I feel trapped in my own skin. Helpless."

Kushina nodded. "I wish it could be easier, Rin."

Rin stretched her arms over her head, but didn't reply.

"We can spend more time working on Taijutsu if you want," Kushina offered.

"I think I'd like that, actually," Rin said. "I've never been great at Taijutsu, but what you've been teaching me feels a lot better than what we learned at the Academy. Or anything that Minato-sensei taught us, for that matter."

"That's because the Academy Taijutsu style is structured to teach only the fundamentals of hand-to-hand combat. And Minato's preference for Taijutsu involves speed and hard hits. You need something that works for your body type and personality. Everyone should seek a Taijutsu style that works for them after the Academy." Kushina grinned at her. "This one works for me, and I'm glad it works for you. The other style out of Uzushiogakure I am definitely worse with."

"There's another style?" Rin asked.

Kushina nodded. "It's called the Vortex Fist."

"It's more aggressive?" Rin guessed.

"That's right," Kushina said. "There's a lot of strong forms and direct attacks. It took me a long time to learn it, but I certainly don't prefer it."

"You learned both Taijutsu styles well enough to teach me before you came to Konoha?" Rin asked.

Kushina laughed. "Not at all! My Aunt Tsunade taught me. I was just old enough to enroll in the Academy when I arrived. I hadn't even started ninjutsu training at the time. My Taijutsu was super rudimentary at that age."

Rin's eyes bugged out of her head. Tsunade was super, super famous. What did she have to do with Kushina's Taijutsu training? "Tsunade of the Sannin?"

"That's her," Kushina said with a bright smile.

"She's your aunt?!" Rin exclaimed.

Kushina nodded. "Technically she's my cousin, I suppose. But she's my only family, and we're pretty close. Her grandmother and father were both members of my clan, so she's, like, half Uzumaki, and she learned the style from her parents.. She taught me when I graduated from the Academy."

"Was Tsunade your Jonin sensei?" Rin asked, maybe a little envious. Minato-sensei was awesome, but Tsunade was the kunoichi almost all girls in the Leaf village looked up to.

"Not officially. She was more like my personal trainer whenever we were both in the village," Kushina said. "Tsunade was out fighting wars and revolutionizing the medical teams. She never officially took on a Genin team."

"Did she only teach you Taijutsu?" Rin asked.

Kushina shook her head. "Tsunade taught me a lot. She helped me work on my really poor Genjutsu and chakra control. Hell, she tried to teach me medical jutsu, but I was never any good at it. My chakra control isn't precise enough for it. She did make me past basic field first-aid and triage classes though."

"I see," Rin said, nodding.

"I was terrible at them," Kushina said. "You're a better medic even if you can't use your chakra right now.

Rin smiled at her, grateful for the praise and confidence that Kushina gave her.

"Do you want to try again?" Kushina asked.

Rin considered the spot where she'd tried meditating, and shook her head. "Not today. I'm tired, and my chakra didn't want to cooperate anyway."

Kushina ruffled her hair. "Okay. How about a trip with me to see if there's anything in our traps? I'd rather not have ration bars or miso soup every day while we're here."

Rin agreed entirely, and they set off to the edge of the village. Finding a few birds, rabbits, or even a deer would be welcome after several days of boring fare. Though Rin wished they had more vegetables. The ones Kushina had purchased from the farmers had run out.

After another week of work, Rin could hold the chakra separated within herself for a period of time that Kushina deemed acceptable, and she showed Rin how to start channeling chakra into the seal that would contain enough tailed-beast chakra to temporarily sustain Rin's life.

The more Rin was able to put into the seal, the longer the window would be for the resealing of the three-tails. Of course, the amount that Rin could channel in one sitting was pitifully small. Not to mention it was exhausting, she could only do it twice a day before she had to sleep, so she saved her second session for after dinner.

The nightmares plagued her less this way, when she was too worn out to even remember if she had dreams at all. Rin was grateful for the mostly restful sleep.

Kushina, for her part, kept pushing Rin harder and harder. They had moved on to sparring in the mornings, and Rin was confident that her Taijutsu was better than it had ever been before.

They had now been in the Whirlpool village for over two weeks. Kushina had started to explore some of the areas of the village, putting to rest the ghosts of her past. Rin was happy for her, and she was happy that she sort of had an excuse to poke around in old houses. Not that she wanted to, but if Kushina did end up in her childhood home, at least the signs of her trespass could be explained away safely.

Of course, Kushina had purposefully avoided the street where she'd lived altogether. She seemed content to slowly remove any old traps or seals that were still in place (and still potentially dangerous) from the area immediately surrounding where they were living.

It was during these forays, the Kushina taught Rin how to locate active seals. A subtle bit of ninja craft that Rin had no natural aptitude for. It took dozens of tries over several days for Rin to find an active bit of sealing paper without any help.

"Well done, Rin," Kushina said, walking over to where Rin had found a paper bomb set to go off if anyone opened an old door. When Kushina did confirm it was a paper bomb and not something more nefarious, she said, "Now that you've got that part down, show me how to disarm it. We've gone over all the theory."

Rin nodded and crouched down beside the paper seal.

"Talk me through it," Kushina instructed. "Make sure you know your stuff, and I can make sure you don't blow us up if you make a mistake."

Rin pulled a small bottle of ink and a brush from her pocket and ran her eyes over the seal. "It's more advanced than the standard Konoha explosive tag seal. The radius is…" She traced her finger along a small cross section of ink. "The radius is fifty meters."

"Good," Kushina said, leaning over Rin's shoulder to see the seal "What else?"

"It's designed to go off if the paper is pulled off the wall," Rin said.

"How do you know?" Kushina pressed.

Rin pointed to small anchoring symbols in the corners of the sealing paper. "These are chakra anchors, and when the paper is removed while the chakra in the seal is active they ignite."

She could feel Kushina beaming at her proudly. "So if you can't remove the seal physically, how do you proceed?"

"We have to destabilize the seal by changing how the chakra moves through the sealing matrix," Rin recited. "I have to make the seal into something that won't explode."

"Just cover it up?" Kushina suggested.

Rin shook her head. "No can do. Uzumaki seals are too well designed for that. More chakra conducting ink in the wrong places would just make the explosion bigger."

Kushina chuckled. "Just making sure. So what do you do if that won't work?"

"I need to identify the areas where I can make changes to redirect the flow of chakra to make the seal malfunction or cease to work entirely," Rin said. She ran her pointer finger along a curve in the seal near the right edge of the paper. "I can add the symbol for light here, by crossing over this line." Rin pursed her lips, examining the tag and searching for the solution.

Seals were like puzzles, really cool, intricate, dangerous puzzles.

"This line here is what channels the chakra to the explosion. And these symbols determine the size and force of the blast." Rin hummed and ran her fingers over the seal. "So if we change the symbol that determines the force to be next to nothing, the seal should just…"

And Rin drew her brush across the seal, which glowed for a moment before emitting a small puff of smoke and light.

"Very well done, Rin," Kushina said.

Rin itched her nose sheepishly. "Well I learned from the best."

Kushina laughed and stepped back so Rin could put away her ink and brush. "You want to try another one?"

Rin grinned. "Let's do it!"

"Okay. Let's move to the next building, I think this one is in the clear," said Kushina. Rin nodded in the affirmative, and followed Kushina towards the next ruined house. As they crossed the threshold, Rin felt once more like she was being watched. She cast her gaze around nervously, but she saw no one else.

"Everything okay, Rin?" asked Kushina.

Rin started, and noticed that Kushina was already peeking her head around the corner to a different room while Rin stood absently in the entryway. "Oh! Uh, yeah! Coming!" She hurried through the house to the bedroom where Kushina was waiting for her.

"Well, you know what to do," Kushina said. "Find the seal that is still active in this area and safely disable it."

Rin, still not able to shake the feeling of being watched, tried to shake off the uneasy feeling in her gut, and started scouring the room for the seal. She moved slowly and carefully, so as not to accidentally trigger the seal. She knew that Kushina would step in and stop her if she was about to do something really stupid. Likely, Kushina had already found the seal and identified what it was for.

As she moved from wall to wall, she rotated around the room, and when she once again faced the door, Rin saw a silhouette of someone standing in the shadows of the room across the hallway. The feeling of dread nearly ripped a scream from her throat. She froze, eyes panicked, and stumbled backwards, tripping over a loose floorboard and falling gracelessly to the ground.

"Rin!?" Kushina asked. "What's wrong?"

Rin raised a trembling hand and pointed to the shadows in the room across the hall.

Kushina followed her fingers and stepped into the hallway, opening the door to the other room. The door creaked as Kushina pushed it open, and Rin desperately huddled in on herself. Something about the shadow-figure disturbed her. It was worse this time than it had been in Kushina's home. Kushina stepped into the room, glanced around for a minute, and then returned to Rin. "There's nobody there, ya know?"

The shadowed figure was still there.

* * *

Author's Note: Okay! I'm thinking there are 3 or 4 more chapters in this arc, and then we'll be moving on to the next and the next and the next! Hope you don't mind a longfic? Please leave me some love, I'd appreciate it. It's sooooo motivating! I really love how this story is shaping up as it goes. My outline and storyboard keeps getting shifted around as I try to meet the demands of Rin. She's really coming into her own. And for all of you lovely folks who want to know about Kakashi - sorry. You'll find out if he lived or died eventually. Hang in there.


End file.
